


The Tempest of Nazarick

by Ronnyboy



Category: Overlord (2018), Overlord - Maruyama Kugane & Related Fandoms
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Exploration, F/M, Fantasy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:13:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 177,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23072248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ronnyboy/pseuds/Ronnyboy
Summary: Ainz Ooal Gown guild member, Donathan Drake, is depressed that his favorite online game YGGDRASIL is shutting down after playing it for 10 years. His avatar, a Lightning Dragonoid named Tempest, wields the power of Thor, Norse God of Thunder. Now he's spending the final minutes of YGGDRASIL with his best friend, adventuring comrade, and fellow guild member the undead Overlord Momonga. But, this ending may just be the beginning of a grand new adventure.
Relationships: Ainz Ooal Gown | Momonga/Albedo, Tempest/Entoma Vasilissa Zeta, Tempest/Shalltear Bloodfallen
Comments: 11
Kudos: 23





	1. Guild Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 23-year-old American gamer, Donny Drake, reunites with his old online friend Momonga so they can celebrate all the fun times they had playing YGGDRASIL.

The Tempest of Nazarick  
…  
What up Overlord fans!?  
Hello, this is my first Overlord fanfic, I’m including my own OC as a player and member of the guild Ainz Ooal Gown as well as my own original 4 NPCs: Lucifer Shadows, Belle von Bane, Heretic, and Toro.  
I hope you enjoy this story.  
…  
Chapter 1: Guild Reunion  
…

In the year 2138 AD there was a term: DMMO-RPG. That word was an acronym for “Dive Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game”.

These games were played by connecting a dedicated console to the brain via a neuronal nano-interface — an intracerebral nanocomputer network, created from the fusion of cyber- and nanotechnology.

These were games that allowed one to enter a virtual world and experience it as though it were real life. And among the myriad DMMO-RPGs that thronged the market, one of them stood head and shoulders above the others:

YGGDRASIL.

This game had been painstakingly developed and released twelve years ago, in 2126.

Compared to other DMMO-RPGs of the time, YGGDRASIL’s selling point was “player freedom”.

It had over two thousand basic and advanced job classes.  
Every class had a maximum of fifteen levels, and so in order to reach the overall level cap of one hundred, one would need to take at least seven different classes. However, players could take as many classes as they wanted as long as they met each class’s prerequisites. A player could even take a hundred classes at level one each, although that was very inefficient. As such, in this system, it was virtually impossible to make identical characters unless one was deliberately trying to do so.

In addition, one could use various creator tools (sold separately) to fully customize one’s armor, weaponry, flavor text, appearance, and other cosmetic settings.

A vast playing field awaited its players. There were nine worlds in total: Asgard, Alfheim, Vanaheim, Nidavellir, Midgard, Jotunheim, Niflheim, Helheim, and Muspelheim.

It boasted a massive world, numerous classes, and freely customizable appearances.

These features ignited the creative spirits of its Japanese players and sparked what would later be known as a stylistic revolution. So popular was it that whenever the word “DMMO-RPG” was mentioned in Japan, listeners would immediately think of YGGDRASIL.

—Still, all these were things of the past now.  
…

It was a cold, rainy day in Chicago as I looked at my personal NNI (Neural Nano-Interface) in my bedroom. I couldn’t help but sigh in disappointment.

I had a lot of good times with this thing and the games I’ve played on it. But my favorite game was YGGDRASIL.

A DMMO-RPG with the main selling point being ‘player freedom.’ What made this game a smash hit in the gaming industry was the freedom that players had to customize and play the game, it was just too much to count. Some players liked to play as necromancers who could summon armies of undead, while others played as shapeshifters who could mimic the abilities of other players.

As for myself, I had put in countless hours playing YGGDRASIL, gathering items to upgrade my racial levels or change them into something else. As frustrating as those annoying Primal Air Elementals were, never dropping any damn items.

“Are you okay honey? You seem unhappy about something.”

I looked at the open door in my room to see my mother, Mildred Drake, standing in the hallway looking at me.

“Only a little mom.” I replied casually, “It’s just my favorite game, YGGDRASIL, is being shut down.” I said in a low voice.

“Isn’t that the game you told me only came out in Japan?” Mildred asked her son curiously.

I nodded.

My mother took a quick glance at the clock. 10:00 AM. The servers shut down at 10:58 AM, which is 12:00 PM in Japan.

Looking concerned, she walked towards me, “Games come and go. There will always be other games son. Maybe they’ll be much better.”

I looked at her and I couldn’t help but smile, “Thanks mom. I needed that.”

“I’m always here for you sweetheart.” With that, she walked out of my room and made sure to close the door behind her.

While I was rigging up my NNI I couldn’t help but smile. My mother always supported my decisions as long as I was happy.

After rigging it up, I sat in the chair and put on the helmet and jumped right into YGGDRASIL one final time.  
…

As I log on to my character, I take a quick look at my stats to make sure nothing is different. I choose to take a look at my equipment and models first, considering they were more likely to change.

Tempest was the name of my avatar. Tempest was in his Dragonoid form at the moment and I was glad to see nothing had changed. A 7-foot tall Dragonoid, with bright blue eyes, razor-sharp teeth in his mouth, a snout, yellow scales covering his body and a white underbelly, yellow wings large enough to fly that have veins of bright yellow lightning running through them, five yellow claws on his hands and feet, glowing blue lightning-shaped streaks on his cheeks, small curling horns around his brow, much like a ram, and a 3 foot long prehensile tail. Bright blue veins of lightning are apparent on his body, while bright yellow streaks of lightning flash from the spikes on his back to the ones on his head.

My equipment itself hadn’t changed in the slightest. Full, golden plate armor with the pauldrons in the shape of dragonheads. He has a helmet in the shape of a dragon’s head with a closed maw much like his own and the chest plate was decorated with the image of a rising dragon. His weapon was a colossal double-edged greatsword called Jörmungandr, with a wide blade that is as tall as Tempest himself. It is relatively simple compared to other weapons with the hilt simply consisting of a simple handguard and a round head for a pommel. The blade is dark blue except around the edges, which are steel grey. Tempest keeps this greatsword in a sheath on his back.

Feeling satisfied that my equipment hadn’t changed, I went to check my Levels and stats:  
Name: Tempest  
Class Build  
Total Level : 100

Race: Lightning Dragonoid  
Race Type: Heteromorphic

Racial Level  
Lightning Dragonoid (15)  
Stormbringer Dragon (10)  
Wyrm of Asgard (10)  
Thunder Dragon Lord (5)  
Racial Level Total (40)

Job Level  
Fighter (10)  
Sword Master (10)  
Sword Saint (10)  
Knight of Asgard (5)  
Magic Knight (10)  
Elementalist: Air (10)  
Disciple of Thor (5)  
Level Total (60)

Stats:  
HP : 85  
MP : 80  
Phys. Atk. : 100  
Phys. Def. : 85  
Agility : 70  
Mag. Atk. : 85  
Mag. Def. : 65  
Resistance: 90  
Special Ability: 90  
Total: 750

…

It was nice to see that nothing had changed from the last time I was in, which was three months ago.

I also took the time to examine the four NPCs I created: the Fallen Angel Lucifer Shadows, the Doppelgänger Belle von Bane, the Automaton Heretic, and the Minotaur Toro.

They looked exactly the way they were the last time I saw them.

After a quick look around, I saw I was in Mount Olympus, specifically the dining hall, one of the more popular locations in YGGDRASIL due to the “no PvP” rule in here. Mount Olympus was a beautiful marble temple built on top of a tall mountain that was constantly surrounded by white clouds.

It was totally empty.

I shouldn’t be surprised. YGGDRASIL was a very old game and took some time to get used to, more so if you played as a warrior-type character like me and with the servers shutting down, should anyone really bother to show up?

Still though. This game has a lot of good memories for me and I know for a fact that others have good memories of this game as well. It was just super depressing that I don’t see anyone, not even a stranger, in here.

However, I knew one person that was still online though. A good friend of mine that helped on several occasions, even helping me become a Dragon. I sent him a message, hoping he wasn’t AFK.

Tempest: “Hey Bone Man. Nice to see you again. You doing alright?”

Momonga: “Oh, Tempest, it’s good to see you too. I’m doing okay, I guess. How about you? Shouldn’t you be at home with your family?”

Tempest: “Yes but I’m taking some ‘me time’ since this is the last day, I get to play this game. Even then, I have too many good memories with this game to not be with it till the very end. But still, I expected to see at least some people. I’m at Valhalla at the moment and I haven’t found anyone. It’s actually kinda sad.”

It really was depressing. Valhalla was a giant hub of activity due to the fact that both the Heteromorphic, Demi-Human, and Human races couldn’t attack each other along with the fact that most materials and items could be found for various purposes, people mostly just stayed here to buy and sell items.

Tempest: “Anyway, are the others online? I like to believe that we’re not the only members of Ainz Ooal Gown online?”

Momonga: “Sorry but no, Herohero was here today but he logged off a while ago. I’m the only one here at Nazarick now. Considering this might be the last time we ever see each other; would you like to return to Nazarick?”

I felt my lips curl up at that. Momonga might be a little reserved, but I’d be surprised if he didn’t feel depressed right now. Like me.

Tempest: “Sure, not going to lie, I would prefer spending time with a guild mate and friend rather than be all by myself. Send me an invite and I’ll be there shortly.”

Momonga: “Thanks Tempest, I’ll send you a [Gate] over as well.”

A second later, I got an invite by Momonga to join a party as well as a [Gate], a blackish portal, straight to Nazarick.

Tempest: “Any time, Momo. We both had a lot of great times together. While playing YGGDRASIL. Might as well hang out until the end.”

…

After stepping out of the [Gate], I was at a gigantic table carved of gleaming black stone that sat in the center of the room, surrounded by forty-one luxurious chairs. It was clear at the Great Tomb of Nazarick. The headquarters for Ainz Ooal Gown, a guild made solely out of Heteromorphic races with 41 members. At their peak, the guild was ranked 9 out of countless others and the only guild to clear Nazarick, the hardest dungeon in the game and turned even harder when they made it their guild base.

Despite that, almost all of the members quit the game completely, deleting their characters and handing over their gear to the guild before logging off for the last time.

If anything, this seemed like the worst thing that could’ve happened to me. I was good friends with some of my guild mates, Momonga, Touch Me, Ulbet Alain Odle, Peroroncino, and Yamaiko to name a few. To see our guild that Momonga and Touch Me built from the ground up like this.

It was probably the most disheartening thing about the whole thing. I understand that most of them quit out of preference for reality, but it still didn’t make things less depressing.

Broken out of musings, I noticed that most of the seats at the table were empty.

Once, every single place had been filled, but now only one was occupied.

The seated person was clothed in a magnificent black academic robe, edged in violet and gold. The collar seemed excessively gaudy, but somehow it fit the overall design.

He was also carrying the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.

However, the exposed head was a bare skull. Points of dark red light glowed in its large eye sockets, and behind that skull glowed a halo of black radiance.

That person was an Overlord — the highest-ranked of those magic casters who had become undead in order to learn the most potent spells.

One might encounter this monster in the most difficult dungeons. Overlords could use powerful spells of the highest tiers of magic.

However, this was not a game monster, but a player.

In YGGDRASIL, players could choose their character races from three broad groups; humanoid, demi-human and heteromorphic.

Humanoids were the basic player type and comprised humans, dwarves, wood elves, and the like. Demi-Humans tended to be ugly but possessed superior attributes to humanoids. Examples of Demi-Humans were goblins, beastmen, ogres, and so on. Finally, heteromorphic races had monstrous abilities, but despite their stats being generally higher than those of other races, they also possessed various drawbacks. There were around seven hundred playable races in total, including the advanced versions of these races.

Naturally, the Overlord and Elder Black Ooze were among the high-tier heteromorphic races that were playable.

Naturally, the Overlord was among the high-tier heteromorphic races that were playable.

Momonga turned to the chair on his right, which is the chair I sat down on.

“It’s great to see you again Momo,” I said with relief.

“Believe me, you’re not the only one, Tempest. I was beginning to think nobody else was coming online.” Momonga agreed.

“Really? No one else has been on? I would think at least one of our guild mates would come on, especially now, with the servers being shut down.”

“Other than Herohero, nobody I’m afraid. Other than me, you’re the only other player to come to Nazarick in months.” Momonga replied sadly.

“How was Herohero doing? And why did he quit?” Tempest asked curiously.

“He was feeling a little tired and needed to rest so he’d be ready for work tomorrow.”

YGGDRASIL wasn’t advanced enough for emotions to be shown on characters, even more so for undead characters, but I could tell that Momonga was depressed, resigned even, that no one else in the guild had come on to see the game to the end. He loved this game even more than me and the guild even more.

I refuse to allow myself and my friend spend the last few minutes of the game like this.

“I don’t know about you, but screw this.” And with that, I left the Round Table Room.

“Tempest?” I heard Momonga say before he started walking with me.

Turning my head slightly to look down at him, I said, “Come on dude, let’s go for a walk around Nazarick and reminisce about the good old days. I don’t know about you but for one refuse to spend the final moments of my favorite game wallowing in self-pity.”

“…Thanks, Donny-san.” I heard him mutter.

“Ha, first off it’s just Donny. I’m American, not Japanese so honorifics aren’t for me and second, this day is already crappy. Let’s at least turn it around and make it a good one. Even then I couldn’t help but use emoticons that I hate sending him. Emoticons like this: 😊.

“I’ll call you Donny if you stop calling me ‘Momo’.”

“Heh, fair enough.”

“Wait, really man?”

“Yep, I’ll just call you ‘Skeletor’ instead.” I’m grateful the game couldn’t copy facial moments or else Momonga would’ve seen that I was grinning.

“Please don’t,” he sighed, “I still remember the first time you called me that in front of the others. Even then I don’t want to spend my last moments in Ainz Ooal Gown being called ‘Skeletor’ by a 23-year-old man.” He said with a shiver.

“HA! That was a fun day.” I smiled at the memory, the first time I met the entire guild.

“Do you know how long they talked about that? Peroroncino-san wouldn’t stop teasing me over it, for god sakes.”

I couldn’t resist the urge to laugh. “Hahahahaha! Are you serious?!”

He answered with a nod then continued. “Seriously. The others found it funny that you compared me to a villain from an old cartoon show.” He said, sighing.

I was still laughing loudly at the thought. While Peroroncino always had a one-track mind for anything perverted, he was also something of a jokester. After some time, Momonga joined in, laughing as well.

“Hahaha… Thank you, Tempest. I really needed that,” Momonga said along with a 😊.

I gave him a 😊 too and then said, “Any time partner. Now come on Momo, let’s do a little exploring.”

“Yes. Let’s go.”

And with that, we descended deeper into the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

…

The sound of mine and Momonga’s footsteps and the tapping of his staff rang through this holy sanctuary.

As we made our way through the ninth floor, me and Momonga talked about the old days when we played together, such as the time we ran into a group of Frost Giants by accident.

“Seriously, I’m surprised they even survived that long. They were only, like, around level 80? At most.”

“There were 18 of them, you know. We could’ve died if we weren’t so close to Valhalla at the time. I also get the feeling they were mad at you for constantly killing them, Tempest.”

I’m getting the feeling Momonga still blamed me for that mess, along with glaring a hole in the side of my head.

“Come on Momo. You know I enjoy killing things bigger me.” I stated, not denying my own bloodlust.

“Does it have anything to do with the fact that you kept dying to Frost Giants and Lizardmen when you started playing this game?” Momonga said smugly.

“Hey, you know cold-blooded creatures like Dragonoids don’t do so well against ice attacks. And besides, wherever did you get that idea?” I asked innocently. While speaking about my completely justified hatred of Frost Giants, and to an equal extent, Lizardmen, we both stopped to take a look at the time.

22:30 PM.

“Would you like to visit the other areas than, Tempest? But we need to hurry.” Momonga tried to act the same, but I knew him better than that.

Sighing, I removed my helmet and looked right at him.

“Tempest?” He asked confused.

“Satoru,” I said calmly, noticing how he went still from shock. “We’ve been friends for 5 years and you’re the person I played with the most during my time in YGGDRASIL. I can tell when you’re hiding something from me.”

For some time, he just stared at me blankly.

“Damn it all!” He shouted suddenly, slamming his fist into the nearby wall. “We built the Great Tomb of Nazarick together! Don’t they care at all!?”

I was shocked at his sudden display of emotion, but he quickly composed himself after his little outburst.

“No, that’s not it. Why choose fantasy when you can have reality? It’s only natural to go with reality.” He somberly told himself, seemingly forgetting that I was here.

I’ve had about enough of this.

“Do you want to know what I do when I feel upset?” I asked him.

“Sure, why not?”

“Get over it,” I said in a cheerful tone.

He just looked at me as if I had said something stupid, “What?”

Okay, time for an explanation.

“Well, it’s not like you can do anything about it. So why bother getting upset?” I started explaining. “It’s my mother used to tell me, have the serenity to accept the things we can’t change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Momonga didn’t say anything for some time so I was starting to think I said something wrong. Then he spoke.

“Thanks Donny. That actually helped.” Momonga said.

“Oh, good. I was worried it sounded corny.” I said, confused.

“It could’ve…used some improvement, but I get what you said.”

“Eh, just looking out for a friend.” I replied coolly.

We then returned to walking through Nazarick.

After turning several corners in these vast hallways, we saw a woman in the distance, heading in our direction.

She was a sensual beauty, whose lush, golden hair grazed her shoulders.

She was dressed in a long, elegant maid’s outfit, with a large apron.

She was roughly one hundred seventy centimeters tall, with a slender build. Her ample bosom looked like it would burst out of her bodice at any time. Her overall appearance was attractive and gave the impression of being graceful and kind.

As the three of us slowly approached each other, the maid darted to the side of the hallways and bowed deeply to me and Momonga.

In return, me and Momonga raised a hand in acknowledgement.

The maid’s expression remained as it was, and she kept the same smile on her face from just now. In YGGDRASIL, facial expressions did not change, but this girl was slightly different from player characters with their unchanging expressions.

This maid was a Non-Player Character. She was not controlled by the game, but by a set of AI routines. Simply put, she was a mobile doll. Even if her design was incredibly realistic, her bow was nothing more than a programmed action.

Our acknowledgement of her bow was nothing more than a foolish gesture, because she was nothing more than a doll. However, we had our reasons for not treating her coldly.

There were forty-one maid NPCs in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, each with their own unique design.

Their creator was a mangaka who had broken into the industry with his maid illustrations, and who was currently serialized in a monthly magazine.

Momonga studied the maid carefully. Apart from her looks, he also scrutinized her uniform.

The intricacy of the design, especially the fine embroidery that speckled her apron, was enough to make people gasp in awe.

Their design had been exceptionally detailed because of the declaration, “Maid uniforms are their secret weapons!” Momonga couldn’t help but feel nostalgic as he remembered the complaints from the other guild members who had helped with the design.

“Ah… that’s right. I think it was from then that he started saying that ‘Maid uniforms are justice!’ Come to think of it, I think the manga he’s drawing now has a maid as a main character. Do his assistants cry when he goes overboard on the designs? Ah, Whitebrim-san.”

I shrugged my shoulders indifferently, “I don’t know but that sounds like it would be funny to watch.”

The maids’ AI routines had been programmed by Herohero-san and five others.

In other words, this maid was the personification of our past friends’ hard work. We could not simply ignore her without feeling bad about it. After all, this maid was also a part of the glorious history of Ainz Ooal Gown.

Just as I was contemplating these matters, the maid raised her head, as though she had spotted something, and tilted her head in surprise.

The maids would do this if anyone lingered around them for longer than a certain period of time.

As I went through my memories, I could not help but be impressed by Herohero’s elaborate programming. There should have been other hidden poses programmed into them as well. I wanted to see them all, but time was not on my side.

Momonga glanced at the translucent watch on his left wrist and checked the time.

As I thought, there was no time for us to spend waffling around.

“Thank you for your hard work.” Momonga praised the maid.

“Yeah, keep up the good work,” I said encouragingly.

We walked past the maid after giving our painful farewells. As we passed the maid, there was no response, but that was only to be expected. Still, even if she did not reply to us, me and Momonga still felt that we had to express our gratitude, because it was the last day of YGGDRASIL.

We continued moving forward, leaving the maid behind.

After a while, a gigantic staircase appeared before our eyes. It was wide enough that over ten people could walk down it side by side, arms outstretched, with no problems. A luxurious red carpet lay on the steps. I slowly descended the stairs with Momonga following behind me, until we reached the lowest floor — the Tenth Floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.

The place where we had arrived was a large receiving room, with several figures within.

The first to enter our line of sight was a distinguished old gentleman in a butler’s uniform.

His hair was pure white, even the beard and moustache near his mouth. However, the old man’s back was ramrod-straight, like a sword forged of steel. His face was deeply wrinkled and gave onlookers the impression that he was a kind and gentle person, but his keen eyes were like those of an eagle sizing up its prey.

There were six maids standing behind the elderly-looking butler. However, these maids were different from the one we had met earlier, in looks and equipment.

The maids wore gauntlets and greaves of gold, silver, black, and other colored metals. Their armor was designed to look like the outfits of maids in manga. They did not wear helmets, but instead white headdresses. In addition, every girl was armed with a different weapon. They were the very picture of battle maids. 

Their hairstyles were also varied; they wore their hair in buns, ponytails, long and straight, French curls, and so on. The one thing they had in common was that every single one of them was attractive. The exact way in which they were attractive also varied within them; one was sporty and athletic, one resembled a demure Japanese maiden, one of them had a seductive allure, and so on.

These girls were NPCs, but they were distinctly different from the other maids, who had simply been designed for entertainment. Their purpose was to defend against invaders.

…

In a game like YGGDRASIL, guilds enjoyed several benefits if they possessed a guild base of castle tier or higher.

One of these was NPCs for base defense.

The NPCs that the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick could field were undead monsters. These automatically spawning NPCs — or “pop monsters” — had a maximum level of thirty. Even if they were destroyed, after a while they would respawn on their own, at no cost to the guild.

However, players could not customize the AI and appearances of these “pop” NPCs.

As such, they were hardly useful in deterring intruders, who were universally players.

There was also another type of NPC; the ones designed from the ground up to their makers’ satisfaction. If a guild possessed a castle-grade guild base, the owning guild would be allowed seven hundred levels to be distributed between any number of NPCs they wanted.

Because the highest level in YGGDRASIL was one hundred, by those stipulations, a guild could make five level one hundred NPCs and four level fifty NPCs, or any combination thereof.

When designing an original NPC, one could customize weaponry and other equipment in addition to clothing and appearances. As a result, one could create NPCs that were far stronger than the automatic spawns and place them in key locations.

Of course, not every NPC had to be designed for battle. A certain guild which called themselves the “Kitty Kingdom” fielded no NPCs other than cats or cat-related creatures.

In this way, each guild could freely determine their unique style.

…

“Interesting.” I said.

I saw Momonga place his thumb on his chin and looked at the butler and maids who were bowing to us. I know that Momonga typically used teleportation magic to move through the various rooms, like me when I feel lazy, so he hadn’t a lot of chance to come this way.

He reached his hand out and touched an invisible menu, opening a page that only guild members could see. Then, he selected an option from several choices. As he did so, the names of the butlers and maids appeared over their heads.

“I see. So that’s what they were called.”

Momonga laughed softly, at himself for forgetting their names, and also seemingly because of the fond memories they brought up in him. There had been quite a few arguments between our colleagues when they had chosen names for the NPCs.

The butler — Seba’s — design was that of a house steward.

The six maids beside him were the combat maids loyal to Sebas. Together, they were called the “Pleiades.” In addition to these maids, Sebas was also in charge of the Tomb’s manservants.

The text box for Sebas contained more detailed information, but neither me nor Momonga felt like reading it. The servers would shut down soon and we had to be somewhere before then.

As an aside, all the NPCs apart from the maids were also very well fleshed-out. This was because the guild members were all fans of complex backstories and details. Many of the guild members were artists and programmers, and a game like this which emphasized the customization of appearances — allowing them to indulge their desire to create and design — was a godsend to them.

Originally, Sebas and the combat maids were intended to be a last line of defense against invaders. However, if enemy players could penetrate this deeply into the tomb, they would be able to handily defeat Sebas and the maids, so they were little more than speedbumps to buy time. However, no player had ever made it this far, so they had been waiting here for orders.

Without orders, all they could do was wait for a chance to be of use.

Momonga tightened his grip on the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.

He knew as well as I did that it was pointless to feel pity for NPCs. They were nothing more than a collection of electronic data, and the closest they could come to real emotion was a very skilled set of AI routines.

However—

“As guild master, I shall put the NPCs to good use.”

Momonga could not help but laugh at himself for that incredibly lame line while I just rolled my eyes, and then he gave them a command.

“Follow us.”

Sebas and the maids bowed respectfully, to show they had heard and acknowledged the order.

We lead them away from this place even though that was not what the guild members had intended for them. Ainz Ooal Gown was a guild that respected the will of the majority. It was forbidden for an individual to selfishly manipulate the NPCs that everyone had made together.

However, this was the day when the curtains would fall on everything. Given that, everyone would probably forgive our indulgence.

As I thought about this, we continued moving forward, followed by the sounds of many footsteps.

…

Eventually, our group arrived at a vast hemispherical dome-shaped hall. Four-colored crystal lamps glittered from the ceiling, and there were seventy-two niches in the walls. Most of them were filled with statues.

Each statue was modelled after a demon’s appearance, and there were sixty-seven of them.

“Sheesh, what a mess. After all these years these statues still bring back fond memories.” I thought.

This room was called “The Lemegeton.” It was named after the Lesser Key of Solomon, which was a magical grimoire.

The statues in the niches were designed to resemble the seventy-two demons mentioned in that book, and in truth they were golems, made out of extremely rare magical alloys. There should have been seventy-two of them, but there were only sixty-seven, because their creator got bored of the project and quit halfway.

The four-colored crystal lamps on the ceiling were a type of monster, and the moment an enemy entered their range, they would summon high-ranking elementals of earth, water, wind, and fire, in addition to bombarding them with area-of-effect attack magic.

If these crystal lamps all attacked at once, the firepower they unleashed could easily defeat two parties of level one hundred players, which would be roughly twelve people.

This room could be said to be the final defensive line of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.

We led the servants behind us past the magic circle, and laid eyes on the giant doors before us.

The majestic set of double doors were over five meters in height and covered in intricate carvings. The left side was shaped into a beautiful goddess, while the right was made to resemble a cruel demon. So realistic was their design that even from across the room, I thought that they would attack us.

Still, while the carvings looked like they could move, we knew that they had never moved before.

“Since they made it all the way here, we should gather in glory and welcome these brave heroes. Let others slander us as they will, but we shall welcome them proudly and openly, like the magnanimous lords that we are.” Momonga said.

That idea had been passed, in accordance with the majority vote rule.

“Ulbert-san…” we both said in unison.

Ulbert Alain Odle. He was arguably the most obsessed with the idea of “evil” in the guild. He was so hammy yet entertaining, I couldn’t help but feel fond of the guy.

“Was it because of chuunibyou…” Momonga asked out of curiosity.

“I’d be surprised if he wasn’t.” I asked because I remembered how gung-ho he was about playing the villain.

Momonga apparently felt that way as he looked around the large hall.

“...Will these two statues attack?”

He had every right to feel so uneasy.

Even my pal Momonga did not fully grasp the secrets of all the mechanisms in this dungeon. It would not be strange if one of the retired guild members had left a strange sort of present for him. And the one who had designed this set of doors was just such a person.

In the past, he had designed a very powerful golem, but shortly after activation, a flaw in the combat AI made itself known and it attacked everyone around it.

To this day, we still had his doubts about whether that “mistake” had been on purpose.

“If these golems attack me again then even hell won’t be able to inflict as much pain on you as I will, Luci★Fer,” I said angrily.

“Well said. Hey, Luci★Fer-san, if they really attack me, I’ll be mad, you know.” Momonga definitely shared my disdain for Luci★Fer’s antics.

However, it appears our caution in reaching for the doors was unfounded. As I touched them, they opened by themselves — although they did so slowly, in deference to their massive weight.

The air changed.

Although the atmosphere from earlier was filled with quiet solemnity, the scene before his eyes now exceeded that by far. The air became a pressure that weighed heavily on the entire body.

It was an exquisite piece of work.

And in this wide, high room—

Even packing several hundred people inside would not make the room feel crowded. The high ceiling and the surrounding walls were a predominantly white color, with golden decorations as highlights.

The numerous chandeliers which hung from the ceiling were made of precious stones of all colors of the rainbow, and they emitted a fantastic, dreamlike radiance.

Numerous flags emblazoned with different symbols hung from flagpoles sunk into the walls. A total of forty-one of these flags swayed gently in the wind, from the ceiling to the floor.

In the center of this room that was tinted gold and silver, there was a flight of stairs about ten steps high. Atop these stairs was a gigantic throne, carved out of a single piece of crystal, whose back was high enough to touch the ceiling above it. A huge red banner hung down behind it, proudly displaying the symbol of the guild.

This place was located in the deepest reaches of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. It was also its most important place — the Throne Room.

“Ohh…”

Even we could not help but gasp at the sheer magnificence of this room. I felt that it was easily the second most impressive location in YGGDRASIL, if not the first.

This was the most suitable place for us to welcome the final moments of the game.

As we advanced through the room that seemed to absorb the sounds of our footsteps, both of our eyes fell on the female NPC that stood by the side of the throne.

She was a beautiful woman who wore a pure white dress, and the faint smile on her face was that of a goddess. In stark contrast to her dress, her hair was a flowing, lustrous jet-black that reached down to her waist.

Although her golden irises and vertically-slitted pupils were somewhat odd, apart from those she could easily be considered a world-class beauty. However, a pair of curled horns sprouted from the sides of her head. In addition, a pair of black-feathered wings emerged from her waist.

Perhaps it was because of the horns, but her divine smile seemed like a mask that concealed her true feelings.

She wore a golden necklace that patterned after a spiderweb. It extended from her shoulders down to the tops of her breasts.

Her slender wrists were covered in a pair of lustrous silk gloves, and in her hand, she held a strange weapon that looked like a wand of some sort. It was roughly forty-five centimeters long, and a black orb hovered at its end, floating lightly in the air but holding its position at the end of the wand.

We haven’t forgotten her name.

She was the Overseer of the Floor Guardians of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, Albedo. She was in charge of the seven NPC Floor Guardians. In other words, she was the highest-ranked character in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.

Because of that, she was permitted to await orders within the Throne Room, in the deepest reaches of the Tomb.

However, I turned a sharp look on Albedo and heard Momonga say:

“I knew there was a World Class Item here, but how is it that there are two of them here now?”

“Maybe Tabula Smaragdina left her a second World Item as a ‘going away’ present. It’s nice to see he really did care about his NPC. I say we let her keep it. She deserves it. And it’s not like it will matter in the next couple of minutes.” I suggested.

“…True.” He replied sadly.

In YGGDRASIL, there were two hundred ultimate items in the game, known as World Class Items.

World Class Items possessed unique abilities, and some of them were so balance-breaking that they could even request changes to the game’s rules by the developers. Of course, not every World Class Item possessed such insane power.

Even so, a player who possessed even a single World Class Item would be catapulted to the highest echelons of fame in YGGDRASIL.

Ainz Ooal Gown possessed eleven items of them, the most of any guild. Even that was far in excess of any other guild. The guild in second place only possessed three such items.

With the permission of the other guild members, Momonga was allowed to possess one of these ultimate items, and the rest of these World Class Items were scattered throughout Nazarick. However, most of them were stored in the depths of the Treasury, defended by its Avatars.

The only reason why Albedo could possess such a rare treasure like this without Momonga’s or my knowledge was because the guild member who designed Albedo had given it to her.

However, since today was already the last day of the game, Momonga felt that he should respect the wishes of his comrade who had given the item to Albedo, and so he did not take further action.

“This is a good place.” Momonga ordered Sebas and the combat Pleiade maids who followed us as they reached the base of the stairs leading to the throne.

After that, we began climbing the stairs, but stopped when we heard footsteps behind us. Momonga could not help but laugh, although his skeletal face could not show any expressions.

The NPCs were merely inflexible AI routines. If he did not give a specifically-worded command, they would not recognize it as an order. Momonga had forgotten this and thus he had not properly commanded the NPCs. It slipped my mind as well since it’s been sometime since I last played YGGDRASIL.

Momonga had told me that after our guild members left, he began solo hunting by himself to a nearly ridiculous degree in order to earn the gold needed to maintain Nazarick. He did not build friendships with other players and avoided them, as well as the high-difficulty areas he used to visit when his guild members had still been around.

Then, he would deposit his earnings in the Treasury before logging out. This had been his routine for almost every day. As such, he did not have much contact with the NPCs.

I felt bad that I had stopped spending time with him. But I can at least try to make it up to him by being there for him now.

“—Stand by.”

The sound of footsteps had stopped.

After Momonga gave the correct command, he ascended the final steps and arrived at the throne. I simply stand beside Momonga’s right side.

We stared openly at Albedo, who stood by the thrones side. Though we had entered this room before, I did not recall her eyes tracking Momonga in my memories.

“Hey Bone Daddy, what kind of backstory was Albedo designed with anyway?” I asked.

“Why don’t we take a look,” Momonga opened the console with a whim of his hand.

A ton of data flowed before us while Momonga scrolled the console.

“Well, I do vaguely recall that Tabula Smaragdina was obsessed with evil themes, overly detailed character descriptions and contradictions. But this just seems excessive. How much free time did that guy have anyway?” I wondered out loud.

All me and Momonga knew about her character was that she was the Overseer of the Guardians, as well as the highest-ranked NPC in Nazarick.

I’m guessing Momonga felt like he had stepped on a landmine. If he could move, he would have been trembling now.

He didn’t even skim the text for the important points; he simply scrolled to the bottom as fast as he could while looking at the title.

After skipping past vast expanses of text, Momonga reached on the last line, and froze while his eyes widened.

“She is also a slut.”

He could not help but stare. Not that I could blame him.

“...Eh? What does this mean?”

“…I believe it means what it says pal…She’s a slut,” I answered sarcastically.

We looked at each other with wide eyes. After the initial shock, I started laughing while Momonga seemed really embarrassed because of what our comrade programmed.

I heard a cry of disbelief escape from Momonga’s nonexistent lips. He looked the words over several more times, eyes filled with suspicion, but in the end, he clearly could not find any other meaning to them. After several seconds, he seemed to have come to a conclusion.

“A slut… it must be an insult of some sort.”

“Sounds more like a joke.” I definitely found this funny.

Each of the forty-one guild members had designed their own NPCs, so he could not understand why anyone would want to treat the NPCs they had designed themselves in this manner. Perhaps he would understand why after reading that long essay of flavor text.

However, there were guild members who would come up with these unconventional designs.

Albedo’s designer, Tabula Smaragdina, was one of those people.

“Ah, is this what they call gap moe? Tabula-san… even so…”

“Isn’t a backstory like this a little excessive? What were you thinking Tabula?” I thought.

“Should I change it?” Momonga asked, seemingly out of a desire for some kind of approval.

Momonga knew as well as I did that all the NPCs made by everyone were an inheritance of the guild. Designing the highest-ranked NPC Albedo in this manner made me think that Tabula Smaragdina was beyond salvation.

Would it really be fine to change an NPC’s backstory based on a personal decision? After thinking about it for some time, I gave Momonga an answer.

“I should probably say no since it’s someone else’s NPC but it’s really up to you Momo, after all you are the guild master. If you want my permission, then I say just do it. It’s the last day, and you’ve been supporting the guild non-stop, so if anyone comes back, everything will still be the same. I think Tabula wouldn’t mind if you changed one little detail about his NPC.” I said.

Currently, with the guild weapon in his possession, Momonga could be said to be the master of the guild. It should be his right to exercise the guild master’s authority he had never used before.

Momonga’s doubts seemed to have vanished like mist, as he steeled himself to right the wrongs of our guildmate.

He extended the staff of Ainz Ooal Gown that he was holding. Normally, one would need developer tools to change a character’s backstory, but through his power as guild master, he could directly access her settings and edit them. After some action on his console, the “slut” line vanished.

“Well, it should be like that.”

“We should fill the gap, so it doesn’t feel empty.”

“Agreed, but what should we put in it’s place? Do you have any ideas?” Momonga asked me.

“I say you should put in something funny to payback Tabula.”

“This feels a little silly.”

“Exactly.”

Momonga thought about it then started laughing.

Although he was laughing, he still typed out a few words on the console keyboard. The words formed a sentence:

“She loves Momonga.”

“Uwah, how embarrassing.”

Momonga covered his face with his palm. It seemed like he was designing his ideal girlfriend complete with love events for himself, which embarrassed him so much that his heart began pounding. Although he wanted to rewrite it again out of shame, in the end he changed his mind and decided against it.

“It’s no worse than …she is also a slut. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Hah. Yeah.”

The game would end soon, after all, and his shame would vanish with it. Besides, the sentence he added matched the gap left by the deleted sentence exactly. It would be a shame if he deleted it and left an empty space again.

Momonga sat on the throne, scanning his surroundings with eyes filled with satisfaction and a little embarrassment. We noticed that Sebas and the maids were still standing by in a dormant state. It seemed a little lonely, and a little odd, to have them standing motionless like that.

Momonga recalled the words he had heard before and extended a hand before lightly bringing it down.

“Kneel.”

As one, Albedo, Sebas, and the six maids fell to one knee in obeisance.

Good.

Momonga raised his left hand to check the time.

[23:55:48]

“A relic of the past, huh—” Momonga said.

“Indeed.” After I said that sentence, we started laughing together.

We were just in time.

In all likelihood, the GMs were probably flooding the public channels and setting off fireworks. Momonga, who had put his heart and soul into this place and cut off all contact with the outside world, was unaware of that.

Momonga leaned against the back of the throne, and we slowly raised our heads to look at the ceiling.

Momonga had taken the time on our tour to tell me that he believed that even on the last day of the game, some invaders might come to Nazarick.

He would wait for them. He would accept any challenges in his position as guild master.

He had sent emails to all the guild members, but only a few had come. I missed his email, that was careless of me.

He would wait for them. He would welcome his comrades back in his position as guild master.

Although the guild now was just an empty shell, I had enjoyed my time with it.

We turned our eyes to look at the huge flags hanging from the ceiling. There were forty-one of them in total, the same number as there were guild members. Each of them displayed the personal symbol of each guild member. Momonga extended a bony finger and pointed to one of them.

“Mine.”

I did the same thing and pointed to my flag. “Mine.”

Then, we turned our attention to a nearby flag. That flag represented one of the strongest players in Ainz Ooal Gown — no, in all of YGGDRASIL. He was the one who had started the guild, and the one who had gathered the “Original Nine”.

“Touch Me.”

The symbol on the next flag Momonga pointed to belonged to the oldest member of Ainz Ooal Gown, who was a lecturer in a university in real life.

“Shijuuten Suzaku.”

His finger moved faster than before as he shifted to the flag which belonged to one of the three female members of Ainz Ooal Gown.

“Ankoro Mochimochi.”

Me and Momonga fluidly recited the names of the various symbols’ owners: “Herohero, Peroroncino, Bukubukuchagama, Tabula Smaragdina, Warrior Takemikazuchi, Variable Talisman, Genjiro—”

It did not take long for us to name all forty of his former comrades.

Their names were still branded deeply in our brains.

Momonga sprawled tiredly on the throne then we looked at each other.

“Yeah, it really was fun…”

“It was a blast…”

Our hearts were filled with regret and reluctance.

Even though the game did not have any subscription fees, Momonga had still spent a third of his monthly salary on it. It was not because his salary was high, but because he had no other hobbies, so he funneled all his income into YGGDRASIL.

There was a cash gacha in the game where players could pay for a chance to win a prize. Momonga spent nearly his entire bonus on it, and barely managed to get a rare item out of the experience. When he heard that one of his guild members Yamaiko had won that item for the cost of a lunch, Momonga had been so envious that he wanted to roll around on the ground.  
(TL Note: gachas are slang for game-based lotteries or lucky draws. They’re named after gachapons, which are coin-operated vending machines which randomly dispense a prize.)

Because almost all of Ainz Ooal Gown’s members were productive members of society, most of them were willing to spend money on this hobby, and among them Momonga was one of the bigger spenders. He was probably one of the top few on the server.

That was how dedicated he was. Adventuring was fun, but his greatest joy was found in playing with his friends.

To Momonga, whose parents had passed away and who had no friends in real life, the guild Ainz Ooal Gown was a shining memory of the good times he had had with his friends.

And now, this guild would disappear.

Momonga gripped the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown tightly. He was just an ordinary salaryman, and he lacked the financial power or connections to change that fact. He was just another player who could only watch the closing time as it approached.

The time on my watch read [23:57]. The server would shut down at [00:00].

“It’s 23:57, in 3 minutes we’ll have to return to our dull reality.”

“Unfortunately, yes,” said Momonga.

There was little time left. The virtual world would end, and we would have to go back to reality the next day.

That was only natural. Nobody could live in a virtual world, which was why everyone had left, one by one.

Momonga sighed.

He had to wake up at four tomorrow. He had to sleep the moment the servers shut down in order not to affect the next day’s work.

[23:59:35, 36, 37]

Momonga set his watch to count out the seconds.

“Momo, it was an honor and a pleasure to meet you and play with you as well as the others. If there’s going to be another game like YGGDRASIL, make sure to contact me or come find me in real life. I’d love to drink a soda with you.”

[23:59:48, 49, 50]

“I feel the same way Tempest-san. I hope we meet again.”

We closed our eyes. All I saw was darkness.

[23:59:58, 59—]

The countdown finished. We waited for the curtains to fall on our fantasy world—

We waited for the automatic logout—

[0:00:00...1,2,3]

“...Hm?”

We opened our eyes.

“What the hell?” I thought.

I hadn’t returned to my room. I was still in the Throne Room in YGGDRASIL.

The time was right. We should have been forcibly logged out by the server shutdown.

[0:00:38]

It was definitely past midnight. The clock could not have gone wrong because of a system error.

Confused, I looked to my side to see Momonga was still here as well, who looked just as confused as I did. Momonga turned to me.

“Tempest?” I heard him say, but his voiced sounded off. He spoke in a deep, baritone as if he were a real Overlord.

“Momo?” I said to him and I realized that my voice had changed as well.

My voice was guttural and almost growling, like a real Dragon, instead of the voice of a 23-year old man.

“What’s going on?” Momonga yelled.

“Could it be they delayed the server shutdown—?” I suggested.

“Or had they extended play time as a form of compensation?” I thought.

Although numerous reasons came to mind, they were all far from the truth. However, the most likely reason was that an irresistible force had cropped up and extended the server shutdown time. If that was the case, the GMs would have made an announcement. I saw Momonga hurriedly worked to reopen the message panel he had closed — and then he stopped halfway.

There was no command console.

“What… on earth is going on?” I practically shouted.

I had to be blind not to notice that Momonga was filled with panic, frustration, and suspicion, but I was also surprised by how calm he was, considering our circumstances. He decided to call on other means. Forced connections that did not require a console, the chat function, a GM call, a forced logout—

None of them responded. It was as though they had been deleted from the system.

“...What the hell is going on!?”

Momonga’s angry voice echoes through the Throne Room, then vanished.

Today was the last day of YGGDRASIL, yet all these things were happening on a day that should have marked an end to the game. Was this some kind of prank they were pulling on the players?

Momonga was quite unhappy that he could not meet the end of the game in style, and the words he muttered clearly illustrated the anger inside him. There should not have been any reply to his hostile suspicion.

—However...

“What’s wrong, Lord Momonga? Lord Tempest?”

It was the first time we had heard that beautiful woman’s voice.

I was startled, but we still kept searching for the source of the voice. When we found the one who had spoken the words just now, we were both speechless.

The person who had answered him was the NPC raising her head — Albedo.


	2. A Brave New World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tempest and Momonga adjust to their new life as their video game avatars and set about to explore the New World.

The Tempest of Nazarick  
…  
In this chapter, y’all will get to meet the four NPCs my OC Tempest created.  
BTW: I’m going to use English and Japanese honorifics just because I feel like it.  
Just So You Know: Yes, Shalltear will be infatuated with Tempest just like she is with Momonga because let’s face it, she was made by Peroroncino so it’s not really a surprise that she’s a dracophiliac or a zoophiliac.  
P.S. Tempest is the only Supreme Being off Albedo’s hit list because she’s grateful to him for his loyalty to Momonga and she can tell his presence here makes Momonga happy, but she won’t hesitate to kill him if he ever betrays Momonga.  
Note: If your interested in learning more about Tempest and his creations then go check out my new fanfic called “Biography of Tempest and his 4 NPCs.”  
…  
Chapter 2: A Brave New World  
…  
“What the shit?”

As I said this, I felt something that should be impossible.

My mouth was moving. Just like Albedo’s.

YGGDRASIL is a pretty old game and there was proof of that. The mouths of the avatars, much less NPCs, don’t move at all, even when using voice chat. This also applied to taste, touch, and smell. It was just impossible to emulate advanced senses.

“Then why can I smell fancy fragrances, move my mouth, wave my hands, or feel the weight of my armor against my skin?” I thought to myself.

After my little outburst, Albedo focused her gaze on me as if I was sick or something. It was pretty disturbing to see something that was lifeless instantly become full of life out of, literally, nowhere.

“Is something wrong, Lord Tempest? Are you well? Have I done anything wrong?” Albedo asked, oblivious to my inner plight.

Besides the fact she gained sentience out of nowhere for no reason, not really.

“A-ah, well, the thing is…” I struggled to come up with something, anything to say to Albedo without freaking out.

I looked to Momonga.

“Come on, Momo, help me for Christ’s sake! Her freakin’ mouth is moving, that shouldn’t be happening!” I thought while panicking.

“Lord Tempest, Lord Momonga, is everything alright? Did we do something wrong?” Albedo said urgently as she started getting closer to us and rising from her kneeling position, the flowery scent was getting stronger.

Albedo kept asking us questions. We did not know how to respond so we just kept staring dumbly at Albedo, who was standing by Momonga’s side. As it was, there were far too many things we did not understand, so my thought processes short-circuited.

“A-ah,” I heard Momonga mutter before something bizarre happened to him. He was just as bewildered as me to what’s going on.

“The GM call isn’t working.” He said confidently and that’s when I noticed something.

The mandible of his skull moved when he spoke. Just like me and Albedo.

Seriously, what the hell was that? He was just as flustered as me and now he’s acting all cool and collected? How can he even talk? He shouldn’t have any vocal cords! Or a throat! Or a tongue!

Realizing what the seeming issue was, Albedo backed off a little before bowing her head to Momonga.

“...Please accept my deepest apologies but I am unable to answer the Supreme One’s questions about this “[GM Call].” I apologize for not meeting your expectations. Nothing would please me more than a chance to make up for my prior mistake. Please, command me as you see fit.” She said regretfully while bowing her head.

Yeah, no doubt about it. Her mouth is moving and from what I can see and the way he covered his mouth, Momo noticed she was moving her mouth and that his own mouth was moving as well.

This is just too unreal. This has got to be some kind of joke. NPCs can’t come to life!

I saw Momo holding his head as if he were in deep thought, no doubt trying to formulate his own theory on what’s happening.

I tried to open my chat, my stat screen or anything but I got nothing.

But eventually though, Momonga let go of the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown to his left as it suspended in mid-air and spun lazily like it did in YGGDRASIL.

At least that still works, but nothing else does!

I was amazed that the staff did not fall onto the ground but floated in the air as though someone were still holding it. This was in complete defiance of physics, but it was a common sight in the game. There were quite a few items in YGGDRASIL which would continue floating in the air when left unattended.

The aura of tormented spirits seemed to cling to Momonga’s hand as he let the staff go, but Momonga paid it no heed. He was long since used to that sight… or not. Thinking that the macro command would have already been built in, Momonga snapped his fingers and deactivated the aura.

Momonga folded his arms.

“No… nothing is wrong… no, nothing.” Momonga finally said.

I knew that Momonga was not the sort of person who made a habit of speaking politely to dolls. However, hearing Albedo’s questions instinctively made him want to respond with deference. Her movements, her speech patterns, her whole being radiated an undeniable humanity.

I still had the feeling that something was terribly wrong about Albedo and myself, but I had no way of understanding exactly what the problem was. I knew that all we could do in this ignorant state was to suppress our fear, shock, and other unnecessary emotions. However, me and Momonga were common person, and could not do that.

Just as I was about to cry out, the words of one of our guild members came to mind:

—Panic is the seed of defeat, so you must maintain your calm and think logically. Remain calm, look beyond your surroundings, and don’t waste your effort on unnecessary details, Momonga-san.

As he recalled these words, I slowly regained his composure.

I silently thanked Punitto Moe, the Zhuge Liang of Ainz Ooal Gown.

Momonga dismissed Albedo with a wave of his hand, and disappointment flashed across her face as she retreated. Momonga turned his eyes from her body to the butler and the six maids, whose heads were still lowered.

“Sebas! Maids!” I heard Momo say.

“Yes!”

Their voices chorused out as one, and then the butler and maids raised their heads.

“Approach the throne.”

“Understood.”

They responded as one, and then rose to their feet. After that, they proudly strode to the front of the throne before dropping to one knee and lowering their heads again.

Now that I was bothering to pay attention to the maids, I remembered who they were.

The maid wearing glasses was Yuri Alpha, she belonged to a race of undead called Dullahan and she was the vice-captain of the “Pleiades Six Stars.” She had black hair and wore it in a bun alongside with a blue necklace. Her outfit is a lightly armored maid uniform and she was wearing spiked gauntlets.

Another one of the maids was a light brown-skinned woman with a lithe build who was called Lupusregina Beta. If you noticed the ears sticking up from underneath her hat then you’d realize she was a werewolf, an animal person like my old friend and guild mate Peroroncino. She wore no armor and had an imposing black and silver scepter slung across her back, I’m guessing she was a magic caster of some kind. She had red hair tied in two long braids. Her maid outfit had a slit on the right leg, showing it off.

There was another maid with black hair who was called Narberal Gamma. She wore a heavily armored maid outfit, so she must’ve been a fighter, although I didn’t see any weapons on her. Unlike Yuri Alpha, she wore her dark hair in a pony tail. She didn’t have any defining features, so I couldn’t figure out what her race was.

The petite-looking maid, CZ2128 Delta, which was an idiotic name in my opinion, is an Automaton, much like my own NPC Heretic, and the only way I could tell was due to the fact she only had one eye that was emerald and had a scope as a pupil, her left eye had an eyepatch over it. She is short in stature and has red-gold straight long hair. She wore camouflage gloves and scarf. She also wore a maid outfit much like Yuri’s, except her armor looked more modern.

The next maid I recognized as Solution Epsilon who is, in one word, ravishing. Out of all the Pleiades, her maid uniform showed the most skin and seemed to have been made in a way to emphasize her sex appeal to the absolute limit the game would allow, which was kinda impressive considering how the devs kept a pretty tight lid on that sort of thing. She had blond hair in spiral curls and blue eyes, but besides that, she didn’t wear any armor and wasn’t carrying any weapons that I could see and along with being, seemingly, entirely human, I have no idea what her race was.

The last maid I easily recognized as Entoma Vasilissa Zeta because she stood out the most to me. She was obviously a member of one of the Insectoid races, but I couldn’t tell which one exactly. Her dress, instead of a French maid uniform, is rather Japanese in theme and seemed to have been based on a Japanese Priestess.

I had learned two things from Momonga’s order.

The first was that you did not need to specially enter commands on a keyboard; the NPCs would understand your intentions and execute your orders.

The second was that Albedo was not the only one who could speak.

At the very least, all of the NPCs in this room were exhibiting anomalous behavior.

“—Sebas.” I heard Bone Daddy say.

“Yes, Lord Momonga,” Sebas responded dutifully with a deep and refined voice while looking up at us.

Well, they’re all talking. At least it’s consistent, talk about a miracle.

I could see an earnest, sincere expression on Sebas’ face. He looked like a real person.

It should be fine to give him orders, right? Although I have no idea what would happen, could we assume that all the NPCs in the Tomb were loyal to us, right? For all I knew, the people in front of me might not be the NPCs that everyone had made together.

Numerous questions rose up in my mind, floating on a sea of uneasiness, but I forced aside all these emotions.

Momonga took on a superior, commanding attitude, and spoke:

“Exit the Tomb and investigate the surrounding region. If you encounter intelligent creatures, interact peacefully with them and invite them to the Tomb. Attempt to accommodate the other party as much as possible during negotiations. Do not stray more than one kilometer from the tomb and avoid unnecessary combat.”

“Understood, Momonga-sama. I will do so immediately.” Sebas said before bowing deeply and moving to leave the Throne Room. But what Momonga said next caused Sebas to stop his walk.

“...But before you do, select one of the Pleiades to accompany you. If battle begins, retreat immediately and tell me everything you have learned.”

In YGGDRASIL, NPCs made to protect a guild base could not leave it under any circumstances. However, it would seem this ironclad restriction had been overturned.

No, we could only be certain of that once Sebas returned.

That would simply be the first step.

The next step would be—

“...I should contact the game company.” Momonga suggested.

It seemed like a logical idea, the game company would know the most about our present situation.

The problem was actually contacting them. Normally, simply using the /shout command or a GM call would put him in touch with a GM instantly, but if these methods did not work either...

“「Message」?”

This was a spell used to communicate in the game.

Normally, its use was restricted to certain places and conditions, but perhaps he might be able to make good use of the spell in this current situation. The problem was that this spell was originally designed to communicate with other players, so it might not be able to reach a GM.

And in this extraordinary situation, there was no guarantee that the spell would work either.

But Momonga had to at least give it a try.

Momonga was a level one hundred spellcaster. If he could not cast spells, his mobility, his ability to gather information, and of course his fighting power would plummet drastically. In these unknown circumstances, he had to verify that he could use magic, and quickly.

Momonga glanced at the kneeling Sebas and the maids, and then at Albedo beside him.

Albedo was smiling. It was a beautiful smile, but it seemed to be concealing something else behind it. As I wondered what that “something else” might be, unease crept through me.

The NPCs were loyal to us, but would they stay that way? If this were in the real world, subordinates would no longer be loyal to superiors who constantly screwed up. Would the NPCs be that way as well? Or was it that once they were programmed to be loyal, they would stay that way forever?

If their loyalty to us wavered, how should we regain it?

Rewards? There was vast wealth in the Treasury. Although it pained me to expend the treasures left behind by our former comrades, they would probably understand if it was for the sake of Ainz Ooal Gown. The question would then be how large of a reward we should give.

In addition, were we superior to others by virtue of being higher-ranked? But what criteria could we use to quantify our superiority? I was not clear about that yet. I had the feeling that as long as we kept this dungeon going, I would eventually come to understand these things.

Or did that mean—

“—Power?” I heard Momo say.

I saw Momo open his left hand and gripped the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown that sailed into his grasp.

“Overwhelming power?”

The seven gems set into the staff gleamed brightly, as though imploring their master to use their colossal might.

“...Forget it, I’ll take my time to think about that later.” I heard Momonga mutter.

Momonga released the staff he held, and the wavering staff fell to the ground as though it were angry at him.

In any case, as long as he acted the part of the leader, they would probably not raise their hands against us right away. Be it among animals or humans, enemies would probably not attack if their intended prey did not reveal any weaknesses.

Momonga declared in a powerful voice:

“Pleiades. Other than the maid selected to accompany Sebas, the rest of you will head to the Ninth Floor and repel any invaders from the Eighth Floor.”

“Understood, Momonga-sama.” Sebas replied.

The maids behind Sebas acknowledged his orders respectfully.

“Begin immediately.”

“Understood, my master!” Yuri Alpha said in a mature voice.

“…Sebas, can you please wait a minute?” I called after Sebas.

“Yes, Lord Tempest?”

“While you’re heading outside, please pick up Heretic “The Doctor of Dread” from his medical office in the 6th floor to cover for you while you’re outside so you have an extra pair of hands nearby in case of trouble. Stay connected via message spell. If you do encounter any trouble, retreat immediately and convey everything you two have learned.”

“Hopefully the message spell works because I don’t want anyone to die due to our inability to use YGGDRASIL spells.” I though nervously.

“Consider it done Lord Tempest!”

Once more the chorus of voices rang out. Sebas and the maids bowed once more to their lord who sat upon the throne and their lord who stood by his side, then stood and left simultaneously.

The giant doors opened, and then closed again.

Sebas and the maids vanished beyond the doors.

It was good that they had not replied with a “No,” or something similar.

A great weight seemed to lift off Momonga’s chest, and at the same time he looked at the person who had stayed by his side. That person was Albedo, who had stood by, awaiting orders. Then he looked at me, trying my hardest to be a statue.

Momonga and I briefly managed to make eye contact that I liked to believe exchanged a message pretty well.

We need to have a chat.

Albedo smiled, and asked him, “Then, Momonga-sama, what will you have me do next?”

“Ah, ahhh… got it.”

Momonga rose from the throne to retrieve his staff, and as he did that, he spoke:

“Come to me.”

“Yes.”

The smiling Albedo drew closer. Although we were wary of the black wand and orb, she had been carrying, that caution passed in an instant, and I decided to temporarily ignore its existence. Just as I finished thinking that, Albedo was close enough that Momo could embrace her if he wanted.

“She smells nice — wait, what am I thinking.” I scolded myself for having these perverted thoughts. She was practically my best friend’s daughter!

I saw Skeletor reach out his hand to touch Albedo’s.

“...mf.”

“Hm?”

A pained expression flickered across Albedo’s face. Momonga drew his hand away, like he had received an electric shock.

“What’s this? Did she feel uncomfortable?” I thought. But Momonga then said:

“...Ah—”

Overlords required levels in the Elder Lich racial class, and among the abilities Elder Liches possessed was the ability to inflict negative energy damage on anything they touched. Was that the reason?

Although, even if it really was the reason, I still had some questions to ask.

In YGGDRASIL, the monsters and NPCs that appeared in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick would be recognized as belonging to the Ainz Ooal Gown faction. Since every member of the guild was also flagged as belonging to Ainz Ooal Gown, there should be no problems even if they attacked each other.

“Could it be that she no longer belongs to our guild? Or has friendly fire been enabled?” I speculated.

The latter possibility seemed more likely to me.

With that conclusion in my mind, I witnessed Momonga apologized to Albedo.

“Forgive me. I forgot to deactivate my negative energy touch skill.”

“Please pay it no heed, Momonga-sama. That damage hardly counted as damage. And as long as it is you, Momonga-sama, I would gladly endure any kind of — kya!”

“Ah… mm. Is… that so… No, no, I must still apologize.”

Momonga was caught off-guard by Albedo’s adorable yelp and the way she shyly covered her face, and his reply ended up being less dignified than he had hoped for.

So, it was due to the negative energy touch after all.

Momonga turned his eyes from Albedo, who was going on and on about how this was nothing compared to the pain of losing her virginity.

He could not help but laugh at the strange situation he found himself in. After all the shocks and surprises he had received so far, this was hardly worth panicking about. It was frightening how well he had adapted to his condition.

“I’m going to touch you.”

“Ah.”

After deactivating the skill, he touched Albedo’s hand. Thoughts like Her hand’s so slim, her skin’s so white, and so on raced through his head, but he cast aside these male desires and focused on one thing — the pulse at her wrist.

—It was there.

It was a steady rhythm, lub-dub, lub-dub. She was a living being, so it was only natural.

Yes, she was alive.

Momonga released her hand and looked at his own arms. All I saw was an expanse of polished white bone, bereft of skin or flesh.

Momonga shifted his gaze to Albedo.

I saw that Momonga reflected within Albedo’s moist golden eyes. Her cheeks were pink, probably because her body was rapidly heating up. The changes in her body surprised me.

“...What’s this?” I heard Momonga say.

“Is she not an NPC? Is she not pure electronic data? Why does she feel like a real person? What kind of AI could do this? More importantly, why is it that YGGDRASIL feels like the real world...” I thought to myself.

Impossible.

Momonga shook his head seemingly in denial. There was no way such a fantastic scenario could have occurred. But once the idea took root, it was not easy to eradicate. I doubt Momonga knew how to proceed given the changes in Albedo.

“Albedo… I, may I touch your breasts?”

“Eh?”

The air between them seemed to freeze.

Albedo’s eyes went wide.

A wave of depression seemed to have washed over Momonga as he considered his words.

“That... should be fine, right?”

It was not fine at all.

In contrast to Momonga’s nervous request, Albedo seemed to be overflowing with joy. She gave him a glittering smile.

“But of course, Momonga-sama. Please, help yourself.” Albedo responded with great enthusiasm.

Albedo straightened herself up, presenting her ample twin peaks for Momonga’s inspection. If he still had saliva, he probably would have swallowed several times by now.

Her breasts swelled up through her dress. And now, Momo was going to touch them.

I wondered why he had thought of this, and why he was still going to follow through anyway.

He sneaked a peek at Albedo, and found that her eyes were shining, jiggling her bosom as though to say Hurry up and touch me.

I didn’t whether it was because of excitement or embarrassment but Momonga steadied his hands with sheer force of will, steeled his resolve, and reached out.

“Fuahh.. haaa...”

As Albedo moaned wetly, Momonga completed yet another experiment.

If my brain was normal, there were two possible explanations for the present situation.

The first was that this was a new DMMO-RPG. That was to say, the moment YGGDRASIL had shut down, a new game, “YGGDRASIL II”, had immediately taken its place.

However, in light of this experiment, the probability of that being the case was vanishingly small.

This was because R-18 actions were strictly forbidden in these games. Who knew, perhaps even R-15 actions might be banned as well. Violators would be publicly listed on the game’s official website, and their accounts would be deleted, or worse.

Once the records of these R-18 actions were publicly released, they might be punished for damaging moral culture and thus violating the Social Order Maintenance Act. As such, most people would consider these acts off-limits.

If they were still in a game world, the company should have made it impossible for players to do such things. If the GMs and the game companies were watching, they would have prevented Momonga from performing lewd actions. However, there was no sign of any resistance or opposition.

In addition, one of the fundamental rulings which pertained to DMMO-RPGS was that forcing a player to participate in a game without permission could be treated as a form of cyber-kidnapping.

As such, forcing a player to test out a game in this manner was a prosecutable offense, especially if there was no way to force-quit the game. It would not be unexpected for a company to receive fines or jail time for such things. If a situation arose where a player was not able to log out of the game, up to a week’s worth of game activity could be stored in a legally-mandated record, which would make it easy to prosecute the company for their violations of the law.

Therefore, if Momonga did not report to work for a week, someone would have found it strange and come to his house to check on him. Then all the police would need to do was to access the records with a specialized console and the problem would be solved.

Which company would risk arrest or worse to commit a corporate crime like this? Of course, they could try to muddy the waters by saying “this was a closed beta test for YGGDRASIL II,” or “there were third-party programs used here.” But in truth, such a risky matter would have no benefits at all for the game company.

That being the case, the only answer for his present circumstances would be that a third party was doing something here, and it had nothing to do with the game company. If that was the case, he would need to throw out all his previous theories and think in other directions, otherwise he would never find the answer.

The problem was that neither of us knew where to start. And there was another possibility...

...The possibility that the virtual world had become reality.

Impossible.

I promptly rejected that idea. How could such an illogical, foolish thing happen?

But on the flip side, the more I thought about it, the more strongly I felt it was the right answer.

And then — I remembered Albedo’s scent.

In accordance to the software legislation for virtual reality games, such games were not allowed to provide sensory data for smell and taste. Although YGGDRASIL had food and drink items, consuming them was little more than changing a value in the game system. In addition, the sense of touch was heavily limited, in order to prevent confusion with the real world. These limitations meant that VR systems were not very useful for the sex industry.

However, none of these limitations were in effect now.

Realizing these facts shocked me. Countless questions like, “What about tomorrow? What’ll happen if this keeps up?” flashed through my mind, but then I cast them all to the back of my mind.

“...If this virtual world is just a simulation of the real world… then the quantity of data involved must be unimaginable…” I thought.

I brushed my thoughts aside and said:

“I believe that is enough Momonga,”

His hands finally left Albedo’s ample bosom.

He realized that he had been groping her for a long time, but Momonga justified it to himself by saying that he had no choice but to grope her for that long, and it was definitely not because squeezing her supple flesh felt so good that he reluctantly let go of her… or something.

“Sorry, Albedo.”

“Fuahh…”

A sensual moan came from the red-faced Albedo, and he could practically feel her body heat raising the surrounding temperature. After that, she shyly asked Momonga:

“Will I have my first time here?”

We were caught off guard by her question, and before he could think clearly, he replied:

“...Eh?”

His mind was suddenly frozen, and was unable to parse her question,

“First time? What’s that? What’s this all about? And why does she look so shy?” I mentally asked myself.

“May I ask how you wish to dispose of my clothes?” Albedo asked without a hint of shame.

“...Wha?” Momonga asked dumbly.

“Would it be better if I disrobed myself? Or would you like to unwrap me, Momonga-sama? Or if we did it while I was wearing the dress, afterwards… it would get dirty… no, if you want me to wear this dress, I have no objections, Momonga-sama.”

I was getting more and more uncomfortable by the minute, so I decided to just walk away from the throne and say:

“So long Momo, and congratulations on finding true love. Be sure to send me an invitation to the wedding.” I waved my right hand backwards as I said this.

Momonga’s brain finally managed to make sense of Albedo’s words judging by the gasp he made. Although, whether there really was a brain under that skull remained to be seen.

I heard him say:

“Enough, that’s all for now, Albedo.”

“Eh? I understand.” Albedo said with a disappointed tone.

“Now is not the time for… no, there’s no time for that sort of thing.”

“My, my apologies! I allowed myself to be ruled by my desires despite the urgency of the situation!”

With a swift movement, Albedo made to genuflect in apology, but Momonga stopped her:

“No, all this is my fault. I forgive you, Albedo. That aside… I have an order.”

“Please give me any command you desire.”

“Tempest, please come back here. We still have some urgent matters to discuss.”

“Sure, Momo. Sorry if it seemed like I was ditching you. I just didn’t want to seem like a jerk for getting in the way of your love.” I said in a somewhat teasing tone that still sounded genuine.

“It’s fine Tempest but back to the matter at hand. Albedo tell the Guardians of each Floor, with the exception of the Fourth and the Eighth Floors, to meet at the Colosseum on the Sixth Floor in an hour’s time. I will contact Aura and Mare myself, so there is no need to inform them.”

“Understood. Allow me to repeat the order; aside from Aura and Mare of the Sixth Floor, I am to inform all the Floor Guardians to meet one hour later at the Colosseum.”

“Correct. Go.”

“Yes.”

“Wait one-minute Albedo.” I said quickly.

Albedo looked at me and then said, “Yes Lord Tempest.”

“If you could go to the 8th floor of Nazarick and Tell Lucifer Shadows to meet at the Colosseum on the Sixth Floor in an hour, I would really appreciate that.”

“At once Lord Tempest.” Albedo said while bowing to me.

“Thank you,” I said gratefully.

Albedo swiftly departed the Throne Room.

As we watched the retreating Albedo, Momonga let himself sigh, in a way that suggested he was thoroughly exhausted. Once she left the Throne Room, Momonga groaned painfully:

“...Oh, what have we done? It was supposed to be a silly joke… If we had known, we wouldn’t have done it. We… we soiled the NPC Tabula Smaragdina-san created…”

When I thought about it, there was only one reason why Albedo would react like she had.

It must have been when we were editing her backstory and changed that line to “She is in love with Momonga.”

That must have been why she acted that way.

“...Ah… shit!”

I heard Momonga mutter to himself, thinking about how Tabula Smaragdina had painstakingly created his masterpiece Albedo out of whole cloth, and then someone else had splashed paint all over his work at will, and now she had become like this.

The knowledge that we had ruined someone else’s hard work made me feel a little miserable, but I tried to cheer us both up.

“I doubt there’s anything we can do about it now since the developer’s console doesn’t seem to work anymore, so there’s really no point in complaining about something we can’t change.” I told him.

“Yes. But how could we have known that this would’ve happened?”

“Ever heard of Murphy’s Law? Which is an adage or epigram that is typically stated as: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong". You know I’m right buddy.”

“But how could we have predicted that things would go this wrong.”

“That’s the funny thing, we couldn’t have. You can’t predict everything Momo.” I responded playfully.

I continued, “Besides, all actions have consequences. I for one can’t help but laugh at the insanity of our situation and the fact that we both have kept our cool this well.”

“Dammit! Your right Tempest, this is completely insane. What do we do now?” He asked me in an urgent tone.

“I say we just keep calm and continue with this charade. They seem to have a lot of trust in us, we wouldn’t want to disappointment them now do we?” I stated sarcastically.

“Buh! Keeping up an act is easier said than done.”

“If we don’t, they might get sick of us and end up trying to kill us.” Then I said.

“This could all be caused by some malfunction with the VR helmet.”

“We don’t know that Donny, yet at least. There’s still so much we don’t know.”

Momonga then rose from his throne and said:

“We can worry about that later. Right now, we need to go to the 6th floor arena to fulfill our appointment with the Floor Guardians and other NPCs.”

“Your right of course Momo. But in the meantime, we should find out if our guild rings work properly.” I offered.

Every member of Ainz Ooal Gown possessed the magic ring that Momonga wore. I left my ring in the Treasury because I couldn’t bother to fetch it.

The power of the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown provided unlimited teleportation between named rooms of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and it would even allow one to teleport into the Tomb from the outside. Since Nazarick was warded to block teleportation into or within itself (except for a few specific areas), this ring was very useful.

The only places where this ring couldn’t teleport its wearer to was the Throne Room and the various guild members personal rooms. It’s a good thing Momo was able to open [Gate] to the Throne Room for me. This ring was also required to enter the Treasury, which was why he could not do without it.

But each guild member could teleport to their own room with help from the ring.

Momonga sighed deeply.

We would be using the ring’s power after this. But we weren’t sure if the ring could still do everything, they expected from it, but they had no choice except to test it out.

“Then let’s do this.” Momonga said after seemingly steeling himself.

“This is embarrassing Momo, but I forgot my guild ring in the Treasury. Can you go get it for me please?” I asked with a hint of desperation in my voice.

Momonga looked at me, “Really? I’m guessing you thought you wouldn’t need it, anymore did you?”

I simply shrugged my shoulders in response.

“Oh whatever, I’ll be back soon. Just stay put.” He said somewhat annoyed but clearly understood the necessity of the action.

“Activate Item [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown]” He said loudly.

With that he vanished instantly. I waited several minutes and then Ainz returned in a flash, he was holding something in his right hand.

“Good news, The ring works.” He said in a satisfied tone. “Now here’s your ring.”

Ainz then opened his skeletal hand to reveal a silver wrought ring with an amethyst embedded in the center of it. The guild's symbol is also imprinted on the amethyst in black.

It was my guild ring.

“Thanks, Momo. Sorry for inconveniencing you.” I said apologetically while accepting the ring and putting it on my right ring finger.

“It’s fine Donny. But keep it with you from now on.” He said in the form of an ordered.

I nodded my head.

“To me, Demons of the Lemegeton!”

Instantly, the effect took place. The golems which heeded Momonga’s command were made of rare metals. They moved before us with an agility that belied their heavy bodies, then took the ready stance they had assumed earlier.

Golems of Lemegeton are statues designed to resemble the 72 demons mentioned in Solomon’s book, a magical grimoire. They are golems, made out of extremely rare magical alloys. They have a ferocious-look and robust bodies. The Golems of Lemegeton are 67 golems that serve as guards in the Great Tomb of Nazarick. They are located in a room called The Lemegeton on the 10th Floor. They were based in the demons from Solomon’s book. There was originally supposed to be 72 golems at first, but the guild member, Luci★Fer, responsible for their creation, got bored with the project and quit halfway during the process of making them. One of the golems is Gremory, a loli golem created by Luci★Fer. He had told me that he created and hidden his prized golems somewhere in Nazarick for his own pleasure. Momonga seemed to have only known a few of Luci★Fer's creations, one of them being in front of the door to the Throne Room, one of the seventy-two golems in the Lemegeton. In demonology, Gremory is a strong Duke of Hell that governs twenty-six legions of demons. Gremory is depicted as appearing in the form of a beautiful woman with the crown of a duchess either on her head or tied around her waist and riding a camel.

It seems Momonga had decided to go with my theory that virtual reality had become reality, his first concern was to guarantee our safety. Although the NPCs we had met so far had readily obeyed our every command, there was no guarantee that the others we met would react in the same way. Also, even if they were all friendly, we did not know when danger would next appear. 

Momonga’s, as well as mine own, life and death hinged on whether or not we could use such things as Nazarick’s facilities, the golems, our items, our magic, and so on.

“Well,” I looked around at the metal golems surrounding us, “that worked and we’re still standing so phase one of our master plan is complete.”

“Yes, and everything appears to be in working order. Let’s continue. Demons of Lemegeton! From now on, you will only ever follow orders from me or Tempest!” Momonga shouted at the statues who didn’t move.

“Did it work?” I looked around at them.

“Try something and find out. They haven’t attacked us yet so we’re not in danger.” Momonga said as he gestured for me to do something.

I shrugged apathetically and pointed to a random one, “You, approach me.” I ordered it.

As soon as I finished, the one I pointed to came to me and assumed a ready position after stepping before me.

“That doesn’t creep me out at all,” I said as I looked in amazement at the golem responding to my command. I reached up to its blank, bronze head with my gauntleted hand and feeling the cold metal it was made of before cringing at what I was doing.

“Well, that’s one problem solved,” Momonga muttered to himself in relief as he looked at the golems. He then ordered them only to listen to him. That way, even in the worst-case scenario — if one or more NPCs revolted — he would have an ace in the hole.

Momonga, satisfied with the mighty-looking golems, looked down at his bony hands.

He wore nine rings on his ten fingers, and only his left ring finger was bare.

Usually in YGGDRASIL, one could only wear two rings, one on each hand. However, Momonga had used permanent cash items (which were very expensive) to let him wear a full ten rings, one on each finger, and use all their powers at once.

This was not unique to Momonga; most players who valued power would spend that money too.

One of the nine rings Momonga wore had an emblem on it which resembled the symbol embroidered upon the large red banner behind the throne.

That ring was called the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown.

Every member of Ainz Ooal Gown possessed the magic ring that Momonga wore on his right ring finger.

Although he could use the power of ten rings at once with the aid of cash items, when he applied the cash item, he had to decide which ring he wanted to assign to which finger, and that decision was irrevocable. Even so, Momonga had removed the ring on his left ring finger and sent it to the Treasury. The reason why Momonga had assigned that somewhat weaker ring to that finger was because it would be very useful under certain circumstances, but he rarely wore it because it had a constant effect.

Momonga sighed deeply.

“We wasted enough time, let’s go”

“On it. Hopefully we won’t get disintegrated.” I said.

As Momonga unleashed the ring’s power, I did the same — the world before us instantly turned black.

Right after that, the scenery in front of us changed, and our surroundings were now a dark tunnel. At the end of the tunnel we could see what looked like a giant lowered portcullis. Within the tunnel were artificial lights.

“It worked…”

I muttered to myself, relieved at the successful teleport.

“Indeed. Shall we get going?” Momonga asked me.

“After you, oh wise leader.” I answered sarcastically.

Momonga simply chuckled darkly at my comment.

We walked down the wide and high passage, toward the portcullis ahead of us.

The stone floor amplified the sound of our footsteps, and at times I could hear echoes.

The torches that lined the tunnel flickered constantly, and as a result, the shadows they made seemed to dance. Bathed in the light of several torches, we cast several shadows at once, and it seemed as though there were multiple Tempest’s and Momonga’s.

I suddenly smelled something as we drew near the portcullis. Momonga stopped and took a deep breath. It was a strong scent of earth and grass — the smell of the jungle.

“Well, at least here we can smell fresh scents. Unlike back in our Earth, aye Bone Man?”

Momonga nodded his head in agreement.

Much like our encounter with Albedo awhile ago, the intensely realistic scent, in a world that should not have possessed such things, only convinced me of the reality of the world we were in.

“But how did Momonga’s body breathe, without lungs or a windpipe?” I wondered.

It was probably magic, but I felt that thinking too much about such things was foolish and put it aside.

As though it sensed us approaching, the portcullis swiftly raised itself into the ceiling at just the right moment to let us through. Past the barrier, what we saw was a circular arena, surrounded on all sides by many tiers of audience seats.

The colosseum was an oval in shape, one hundred eighty meters on its long axis and one hundred fifty meters on the short axis. It was forty meters tall and modelled after the arenas of the Roman Empire.

There were「Continual Light」 spells cast everywhere, illuminating the grounds in white light, so one could observe the entire Colosseum like it was day.

The audience was composed of many clay dolls — golems, in other words — which showed no sign of activity.

In this Colosseum, the intruders would be the stars of the show, while the ones watching from the VIP box would be members of Ainz Ooal Gown. The main event, of course, would be a brutal melee. Apart from the fifteen-hundred-man invasion, every single invader had met their end here.

We walked into the center of the arena and looked into the heavens. Before us stretched a black expanse of night sky. Perhaps we might have been able to see the stars if there was no light around us.

However, this place was the Sixth Floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, so the sky here was merely a virtual imitation.

Even that imitation required a massive amount of data, but as a result the sky here could change with the time of day, even showing an actual sun with appropriate daylight effects.

I felt I could relax myself in this virtual landscape because my heart was still human, as opposed to my draconic appearance. It was also because I felt a sense of appreciation for our comrades’ hard work in building this place.

Part of me wanted to just wait and space out here for some time, but the present situation denied me that luxury.

We looked around — nobody was there. The twins should have been taking care of this place...

We noticed something.

“Toooooooh!”

After the shout, a figure leapt from the VIP box.

The figure jumped down from a height of about six stories, somersaulted in mid-air, and landed as though it were a butterfly descending on a flower. There was no magic involved, only pure physical prowess.

It negated the force of the impact with a simple flexing of the knees, and it smiled broadly.

“V!”

It made a V-sign of victory.

A child that appeared to be eleven-years-old had descended from above. Her face bore a smile that was as bright as the sun. She was adorable, with the androgynous appeal of both a boy and a girl.

Her hair resembled threads of spun gold, and it grazed her shoulders. The light reflected off the strands of hair resembled an angel’s halo. Her mismatched eyes, one blue, one red, seemed as eager and sparkly as a puppy’s.

Her ears were long, and his skin was dark. She was a Dark Elf, a species related to Forest Elves.

She wore a shirt of light leather armor, reinforced with red dragon’s scales. The emblem of Ainz Ooal Gown was proudly displayed on her vest, stitched in gold onto a white background. Below that, she wore a pair of white pants, matching her vest. A necklace with a glittering golden acorn pendant hung from her neck, and she wore a pair of gloves reinforced with plates of enchanted metal.

A whip coiled across her waist and right shoulder, and there was a longbow on her back. The bowstave and grip seemed to be covered in strange decorations.

“You are Aura, correct?” I asked, trying to sound professional.

I spoke what was hopefully the name of the Dark Elf child.

I was addressing the Guardian of the Sixth Floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, Aura Bella Fiora. She was a skirmisher who was also able to summon and tame beasts.

Aura jogged over to us. Well, to her, it was a jogging pace, but she was travelling as fast as one of her beasts at full speed, rapidly closing the distance between them.

Aura screeched to a halt.

Her running shoes had hihiirokane metal plates on the soles, and they threw up clouds of dust as they ground against the floor of the arena. The clouds did not touch our bodies; if she had planned that, then her skills must have been impressive indeed.

“Huu~”

Aura was not sweating, but yet she wiped her forehead theatrically. Then, with a puppy-like smile, she greeted Momonga.

“Welcome, Momonga-sama. Welcome, Tempest-sama. Welcome to the level I guard!”

The greeting was filled with the same respect that Albedo, Sebas, and the maids had for us, but for some reason it felt more intimate. To Momonga, it seemed this intimacy allowed him to loosen up. Being too uptight and scary was quite troublesome for him, who was not experienced with this sort of thing.

We could not detect any hostility on Aura’s face, and Momonga’s 「Enemy Scan」 revealed nothing.

Momonga’s line of sight left the band on his right wrist and he loosened his grip on the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.

He had planned to strike hard and fade away if an emergency occurred, but it seemed as though there would be no need for that.

“...Mm. We will be intruding for a while.”

“What’re you saying, you are the master of Nazarick, the Supreme Overlord, right, Momonga-sama? And Tempest-sama is the champion of Nazarick as well as “The Dragon of Disaster” There’s no place you two would be intruding if you visited!”

“I see… speaking of which, if you’re here, Mare…” Momonga said.

Upon hearing Momonga’s question, Aura blinked in surprise, as though she had realized some great truth and turned around, shouting loudly upward:

“Momonga-sama has graced us with his presence! How rude are you going to be by not showing your face to him?”

There was movement in the shadows of the VIP box.

“Was Mare there too?” I asked.

Though I already sensed him with my [Enhanced Senses] race trait. It was kinda odd to sense for everything around me. I sense were clearer and sharper than ever before. It felt like I was blind my whole life and I had now just gained my senses. All this new information was a little overwhelming and I feared I was losing touch of the world because of it.

“Yes, that’s right, Supreme Ones. He’s really timid… Oi, jump down here now!” Aura ordered loudly.

An almost inaudible reply came from the VIP box. Judging by the distance between there and here, it was a miracle the other party could even hear Aura. However, that miracle was the result of the magic on Aura’s necklace.

“I, I can’t, Onee-chan…”

Aura took a deep breath and grabbed her head.

“He… he… Supreme Ones, he’s just scared, he’s definitely not trying to insult you both.”

As a member of society, one had to know when to speak one’s heart and when to say things that were appropriate for the occasion. I nodded understandingly. Momo answered in a gentle way to put Aura at ease.

“Of course, Aura. I have never doubted you or your younger brother’s loyalty.”

Aura sighed in relief, and then she became serious again before shouting angrily at the VIP box.

“The Supreme Beings Ainz-sama and Tempest-sama have come to visit us, but you as a Floor Guardian aren’t even here to meet them! You should know how disrespectful that is! If you’re too scared to jump down, maybe a quick kick will substitute for courage!”

“Uuu… I’ll take the stairs down…” Mare replied timidly.

“How long do you want the Supreme Ones to wait!? Get over here now!” Aura shouted angrily.

“I, I got it… e-eiii!”

Mare had apparently gathered up his courage, but his voice still seemed unsteady.

“Now Aura, go easy on him. I’m sure he’s doing his best.” I told her in a soothing tone.

“But Tempest-sama, it would be unforgivable to make the Supreme Beings wait.”

I simply shook my head at her statement then said, “It’s not like we’re in a hurry. You don’t need to grow through all this trouble for us.”

After I finished my sentence, a figure jumped out of the VIP box.

As expected, it was a Dark Elf. This Dark Elf was particularly wobbly on his feet, completely different from how Aura had handled her landing. However, he did not seem to be hurt. He must have skillfully dissipated the force of landing with some athletic trick.

After that, he immediately began running over as quickly as he could. However, his top speed was still much slower than Aura. She must have thought so too, because she frowned and shouted:

“Hurry up!”

“Y-Yes!”

The child who finally arrived in front of us looked almost identical to Aura. They had to be twins, given the way they shared the same hair, the same eyes, and the same features. However, if Aura was the sun, then Mare was the moon.

He looked nervous, as though he was afraid of being scolded. Momonga was surprised by the stark difference between the two. However, from what Momonga knew, Mare should not have been like this. Even if one wrote a long character description for their NPCs, it would not be reflected in their personalities.

Yet, these two Dark Elf children were displaying animated emotions in front of Momonga.

“—They must be the Aura and Mare that Bukubukuchagama wanted to see.” I thought to myself.

Bukubukuchagama was the guild member who had designed these two Dark Elf characters.

“If only she could have been here for this...” I mentally told myself in a depress tone.

“I, I’m sorry I kept you waiting, Supreme Ones…”

He nervously raised his eyes to peek at us. He wore a vest of blue dragon scales, and a small cape that was as green as jungle leaves.

His clothes had the same basic white color as Aura, but a short section of flesh peeked out below his short skirt. It was short because the rest of his legs were covered in white silk stockings. He had an acorn-shaped pendant on a necklace like Aura, but his was made of silver.

Mare was much more lightly armed than Aura, with a pair of lustrous white gloves on his dainty little hands, and a gnarled black staff in his hands.

Mare Bello Fiore.

Like Aura, he was a Guardian of the Sixth Floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.

I squinted and looked at them. Aura thrust her chest forward proudly, while Mare simply cowered under our gaze.

They nodded several times, musing that the two of them were indeed the incarnation of his comrade’s hard work.

“I’m glad to see that the two of you are in good spirits.” Momonga claimed.

“I’m positively overflowing with energy… although it’s been a bit boring recently. It would be nice if we had an intruder or two.”

“I, I would rather not have to meet intruders… they, they’re scary…”

After hearing Mare’s words, Aura’s expression changed:

“...Haa. Supreme Ones, please excuse me for a while. Mare, come with me.”

“O-Oww… Nee-chan, that hurts…”

After seeing Momonga nod slightly, Aura pinched Mare by the tip of one of his ears and dragged him away from Momonga. Then, she began whispering into Mare’s ear. Even from a distance, one could tell that she was scolding him.

[Message] “...Intruders, huh. Well, much like you, I don’t want to meet them either, Mare…”  
[Message] “…Oh, don’t be such a wet blanket Momonga. I think it would be fun to test our might against a powerful opponent. After we make all the necessary preparations of course.”

Momonga nodded at my comment.

After we snapped back to reality, we realized that Mare was on his knees in front of Aura, who was hurling a torrent of abuse at him.

Momonga seemed to be smiling, as the scene no doubt reminded him of the brother and sister who were his friends:

[Message] “Good grief, Mare was clearly not made by Peroroncino. Or is this because Bukubukuchagama believed that "Little brothers should listen to their big sisters"... Though come to think about it, Aura and Mare should have died once. How should I address that?”

The invasion of fifteen-hundred people had made it down to the Eighth Floor. Which was to say, Aura and Mare should have died then. Did they remember anything about it?

[Message] “Your guess is as good as mine Momo. But I think it’s best not to mention it to them for a while at least. This information might make them unstable or tear open an emotional wound that already healed. We’re not even sure if they even remember the siege.”

[Message] “That’s true.”

What meaning did the concept of "death" have for those two, anyway?

According to YGGDRASIL’s rules, death would cost a character five levels and force him to drop one of his equipped items. In other words, characters below level five would immediately disappear. Players were especially exempt from this and would not vanish, but they would be reduced to the minimum level of one. Therefore, it must be an issue with the game rules.

Using spells like 「Resurrection」 or 「Raise Dead」 would mitigate this level loss. In addition, with the use of cash items, one would only lose a bit of experience.

It was simpler for NPCs. As long as the guild paid the requisite fees to resurrect them, they would be recalled to life without any ill effects.

Therefore, players who wanted to respect their characters often favored using death to lower one’s levels.

While the loss of even a single level was a harsh punishment in a game where each level required a lot of experience points, losing levels was not such a frightening prospect in YGGDRASIL. This was because the game company wanted its players to explore previously undiscovered regions and find new things, instead of hunkering down in familiar territory because they were afraid of losing levels.

With all this in mind, were the two people who perished in the wake of the fifteen-hundred-man invasion the same after their resurrection?

We wanted to verify this, but at the same time, we did not want to disturb them unduly. For all we knew, that large invasion might have been a traumatic experience for Aura. I felt it would be unwise to question her in that manner when she had showed no overt signs of hostility. The important thing was that they were lovingly crafted NPCs of our friends in Ainz Ooal Gown.

Perhaps after settling all the accumulated problems, we would ask her about it.

In addition, the concept of death in-game might be different from outside it. Of course, if one died in reality, that was the end of everything, However, that might not be the case right now. We should perform an experiment on this, but first we needed to collect information and establish our priorities. Thus, putting this matter aside would be a wise decision.

After all, we still had many doubts about how the YGGDRASIL we knew had changed.

Aura was still scolding Mare as I stood in contemplation. Honestly, I pitied Mare. After all, he had not said anything that warranted such wrathful castigation. And I knew what it felt like to be scolded by family. It was not a good feeling.

In the past, when brother and sister argued, all we could do was watch. But now, things were different.

“That should be enough, don’t you think?” Momonga told Aura.

“Supreme Ones! But, but as a Guardian, Mare—”

“It’s fine. Aura, I understand how you feel. It is only natural that you would feel unhappy if Mare, as a Floor Guardian, said such a cowardly thing, especially if it were in our presence. However, I believe that if anyone invaded the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, you and Mare would fearlessly step forward to engage them. There is no need for scolding’s as long as one does what is required of them when the time comes.” Momonga said to soothe their worries.

I walked up to between the two of them and helped Mare up. They looked incredibly tiny compared to my massive form.

“And Mare, you should be grateful to your kind sister. Even if I were angry, I could not remain so after seeing how your sister scolded you. She only does it because she cares about you.”

Mare looked in surprise at his sister. At this moment, Aura hurriedly said:

“Eh? No, no, it’s not like that. I wasn’t scolding him to show off in front of the Supreme Beings!”

“Aura, it’s fine. It doesn’t matter what you had in mind. I understand your kind intentions. However, I must tell you that we are not dissatisfied with Mare’s performance as a Guardian.” Momonga said.

“It’s true Mare. You haven’t done anything wrong.” I said to confirm Momonga’s words.

“Um, ah, yes, yes! Thank you, Supreme Ones!”

“Th-Thank you very much…”

I felt a little uncomfortable as I watched the two of them bow to us. I felt particularly ill at ease as I saw them look at us with their shining eyes. But for some reason I enjoyed the positive attention. It must be the dragon in me, they’re known for having superiority complexes, so I guess it must only feel natural to have others recognize my authority.

However, perhaps in order to camouflage the embarrassment, he felt at being looked at that way, Momonga coughed.

“Hm, that’s right. Aura, I think you said something about being bored because there were no intruders?”

“—Ah, no, that, about that…”

After seeing Aura’s fearful reaction, Momonga felt bad about asking his question.

“I do not intend to reproach you for your answer, so feel free to speak your mind.”

“...Yes, a little. There’s nobody around here who can spar with me for more than five minutes.”

Aura touched her index fingers together before looking up hopefully to us.

As a Guardian, Aura was level one hundred. There were precious few opponents in this dungeon which could rival her. There were nine such NPCs, including Aura and Mare, as well as one other.

This gave me an idea as I smirked behind my helmet.

“You don’t need to look far Aura. I’ll spar with you any time. Just ask.” I said.

“N-no Lord Tempest, we would never dare to attack a Supreme Being! Right Mare?”

“R-Right sis.”

I just shrugged my shoulders apathetically, “Fair enough, but if you change your mind, my offer is always open.”

“Thank you for understanding Lord Tempest.” They both bowed and said in unison.

“But what if Mare was your opponent?” Momonga suggested.

Mare’s body trembled as he shrank away. He shook his head with moist eyes, and he looked very afraid. Aura sighed as she saw the way he looked.

As Aura sighed, a sweet scent filled the surrounding air. Unlike the fragrance Albedo radiated, this scent seemed somewhat persistent. As we remembered Aura’s ability, we took a step away from the scent.

“Ah, sorry, Momonga-sama!”

As Aura noticed our strange reactions, she hurriedly dispersed the scent with her hand.

Among Aura’s skills as a Beast Tamer, there were certain passive skills that had buffing and debuffing effects. These abilities acted through her breath and had a radius of several meters, some even up to ten meters. With the effect of certain skills, that radius could be enlarged to unbelievable proportions.

In YGGDRASIL, icons representing buffs and debuffs appeared in one’s field of vision, so one could see if they were under the effect of an ability. However, no indication of these changes appeared before us, which made things quite troublesome.

“Ah, it should be fine now Supreme Ones, I cancelled it!”

“Is that so…” Momonga asked.

“...Although you’re a dragon, there’s no way a Supreme Being like Lord Tempest would be affected by something so trivial as a skill. And you’re undead, so mind-affecting effects shouldn’t work on you, right, Momonga-sama?”

That was true in YGGDRASIL. The undead were immune to mind-affecting effects, whether positive or negative. And her scent had no effect on me at all. Probably because I’m too high-leveled.

“...Were we within the effective radius?” I asked.

“Mm.”

Aura lowered her head in fear, and so did Mare beside her.

“...We’re not angry, Aura,” Momonga said in as gentle a voice as he could manage. “Aura… You don’t have to be so afraid. Do you think such a simple skill would inconvenience us? Tempest was simply asking if we were within the effective range of your skill.”

“Yes! Just now, you both were within range of my skill.”

After hearing Aura’s energetic answer as relief flooded back into her, I realized that our very presence filled Aura with fear.

Once I noticed this, I felt a clenching pain in my stomach. What if I became weaker from this? Every time I thought about that, I tried desperately to put it out of mind.

“And what was its effect?” Momonga asked.

“Ah, the effect just now… should have been fear.”

“Umu...”

I did not feel afraid. In YGGDRASIL, one would not be affected by attacks from the guild or party to which one belonged. Although, there was a very real chance this rule no longer applies, so it would be best to verify that now.

“Aura, I was just thinking that your skill should not have an effect on people from the same guild… the same group.” Momonga asked.

“Eh?”

Aura’s eyes went wide, much like Mare’s did from the side. Judging from their reactions, Momonga realized that they did not agree with him.

“Am I mistaken?”

“Yes… Could it be you mixed it up with the ability to freely change the range of one’s skills?”

So, it seemed the rule disabling friendly fire was no longer in effect. Mare was not affected while being near Aura, but that might be because he had equipped an item which negated mind-affecting effects on himself.

In contrast, mine and the undead Momonga’s divine class items did not have any data which protected against mind-affecting effects. But in that case, why didn’t we feel fear?

There were two possibilities.

We might have resisted it with our base stats or Momonga resisted it with his immunities from being an undead creature.

Because I was not sure which hypothesis was correct, I decided to conduct an experiment:

“Can you try using other effects?” I asked.

Aura tilted her head and made a strange noise of bafflement. I was reminded of a puppy I once had, and I reached out to stroke Aura’s head.

Her hair and scalp felt smooth as silk and caressing her was very comfortable. Because Aura did not seem to mind, I wanted to keep going on. However, Mare looked a little frightened as he stared at us from the side, so I paused.

“What was Mare thinking, anyway?” I thought.

After thinking for a short while, I ruffled Mare’s hair with my other hand.

The quality of Mare’s hair felt better, but I hardly paid it any heed as I rubbed their heads until I was satisfied. Then, I remembered what we were here to do:

“Then I have something to ask of you. We plan to conduct certain experiments… We’ll need your help for them.” I informed the Dark Elf twins.

At first, the two of them did not know how to respond to that. However, when my hand left their heads, the two of them had embarrassed yet happy looks on their faces.

Aura cheerfully replied, “Yes, I understand! Tempest-sama, leave it to me!”

Momonga then reached out a hand to quell Aura.

“Before that—”

Momonga gripped the staff in his hand.

Just like before, when he used the power of the ring, he focused on the staff. Among the many powers it possessed, Momonga concentrated on one of the gems which decorated the staff.

It was a divine class item called the Gem of the Moon, and the ability Momonga chose—

—called forth Moonlight Wolves.

As the summoning magic took effect, three beasts appeared out of thin air.

The special effects of the summoning were the same as in YGGDRASIL, so I was not surprised by them.

Moonlight Wolves looked very similar to Siberian Wolves, but they radiated a silver glow. Momonga must have felt a mysterious connection between himself and the Moonlight Wolves. It clearly showed who was the master and the servant between them.

“Are those Moonlight Wolves?”

Aura’s tone showed she did not understand. After all, she had no idea why Momonga would summon such weak monsters.

Moonlight Wolves were highly agile, and they were useful for ambushes, but they were only level twenty or so. They were very weak monsters compared to Aura and Momonga. However, monsters of this level were enough for their purposes this time round.

In fact, the weaker they were, the better.

“Yes, they are. Now, include us in the radius of your skill.”

“Eh? Really?”

“It’s fine.” I said while raising my hand to confirm it.

Our insistence was so great that even the dubious Aura went ahead with it.

Given that we were no longer in the game, there was a possibility we could not ignore, which was that Aura’s skill might not have activated properly. In order to rule that out, we had to expose ourselves to the skill with a third party, which was most likely why Momo had summoned the Moonlight Wolves.

After that, Aura exhaled several times, but neither me nor Momonga seemed affected in any way. I tried relaxing or turning around in the middle of the skill, but I felt nothing strange. However, the Moonlight Wolf behind us was affected. Thus, I concluded that Aura’s skill had taken effect.

From this experiment, we learned that mind-affecting effects did not work on us. This meant—

In the game, demi-human and heteromorphic races unlocked racial skills when they reached certain levels. An Overlord like Momonga had the following skills:

Create High Tier Undead four times per day, Create Mid-Tier Undead twelve times per day, Create Low Tier Undead twenty times per day, Negative Energy Touch, Despair Aura V (instant death), Negative Protection, Dark Soul, Black Halo, Undead Blessing, Unholy Protection, Wisdom of Darkness, Speak Evil Tongues, Ability Damage IV, Piercing Damage Resistance V, Slashing Damage Resistance V, Turn Resistance III, High Tier Physical Immunity III, High Tier Magic Immunity III, Cold, Acid, and Electrical Immunity, as well as Arcane Vision/See Invisibility.

And then there were the abilities from his class levels — Instant Death Magic Enhancement, Rite of Darkness, Undead Aura, Undead Creation, Undead Control, Undead Strengthening, and so on.

Then there were the basic special qualities which all undead possessed:

Immunity to critical hits, mind-affecting, poison, disease, sleep, paralysis, death, and energy drain effects. Resistance to necromancy and biological penalties. Undead did not need to breathe, eat, or drink. They were healed by negative energy and had dark vision.

Of course, they had weaknesses too, like Good, Light, and Holy Vulnerability IV, Bludgeoning Vulnerability V, Vulnerability to Holy and Good Consecrated Areas II, double damage from fire, and so on.

—This meant that I could be sure that Momonga still possessed the basic abilities of an undead being and his special skills gained through leveling up.

I think I don’t need to keep my guard up all the time to be protected, but it’s nice to have confirmation. If this is the case, I must have other passives from being a Dragon, such as:

Thunder Dragon Lord Skills:  
Attack Damage IV  
Ability Damage IV  
Draconic Battle Cry: A passive skill that buffs the physical abilities of all allies.  
Draconic Passion: A passive skill that makes Tempest’s physical attacks and Air magic stronger as well as surround himself in electricity the angrier he gets. Because of that, he will slowly lose control of his mind and become unable to hold back his urge to slaughter. Without those mental brakes, Tempest would indiscriminately attack anything he sees. To cancel this ability after it activates, Tempest needs to either calm down or have his electricity stripped from him.  
Dragonic Presence I: Has a chance (if not resisted by ability, equipment, level difference, etc.) of causing Fear. Fear refers to an abnormal status of being afraid, which inflicts a penalty to all actions. Besides inflicting fear, it could reduce the stats of its victims. Normally, Dragonic Presences would not have any effect on level 100 NPCs, but when equipped with certain magical items like Jörmungandr its effect can be strengthened.  
Dragonic Presence II: Has a chance of causing Panic. Panic is a more severe version of Fear, caused by stacking additional Fear effects on each other. Anyone afflicted by that status would want to flee the ability user at all costs ― in other words, they would be unable to take any combat-related actions against that person.  
Dragonic Presence III: Has a chance of causing Confusion. This can only happen unless the target does not have any recovery measures prepare.  
Dragonic Presence IV: Has a chance of causing Insanity. Insanity was an extremely annoying bad status, being a permanent version of Confusion. It could not be removed without magic from a third party.  
Dragonic Presence V: Has a chance of causing Instant Death.  
Electric Absorption  
Electric Aura: The user can release and surround themselves in/with electricity for defensive and/or offensive purposes, possibly becoming almost untouchable and granting them various abilities/attacks. The aura may also give the user enhanced physical capabilities such as speed, strength, and durability.  
Electric Immunity  
Electricity Defense  
Electrical Healing  
Electrical Telepathy  
Electromagnetic Vision  
High Tier Magic Immunity III: Nullifies all low tier spells.  
High Tier Physical Immunity III: Nullifies all low-level attacks (below level 60).  
Intelligence Boost  
Rage of the Storm  
Reptilian Blessing: Can sense other cold-blooded creatures such as Lizardmen and Dragons.  
Roar of the Beast  
Speak Draconic Tongues  
Status Damage IV  
Storm Control

And others along with the passives from my Job Classes.

Thank god for that. At least we’re not completely defenseless.

“Did anything happen, Tempest?” Momonga asked me.

I shook my head and replied, “No, nothing happened.”

“I see. Well, this was an informative experiment… thank you, Aura. Are you all right?” Momonga asked with a concerned look.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Is that so… return.”

The three Moonlight Wolves vanished as though time itself had turned backward for them.

“...Momonga-sama, did you and Tempest-sama come to our floor in order to perform those experiments just now?”

Mare was nodding beside her.

“Eh? Ah, no. In truth, we came here for training.”

“Yes.” I said.

“Training? Eh? For the Supreme Ones?”

Aura and Mare’s eyes were so wide it seemed like they might fall out of their sockets. Their surprise was only natural; after all, who would expect to hear such a thing from Momonga, a powerful magic caster, the Supreme Ruler of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, as well as the one who stood above all?

I had anticipated this reaction, so I swiftly replied:

“Indeed. If you don’t sharpen and polish your skills every so often then you will become rusty and dull in live combat. So, you should always practice and improve yourself. No matter how powerful and skilled you think you are.”

“Quite true.” Momonga replied.

After seeing our swift reply and hearing the light impact of Momonga’s staff on the ground, realization dawned on Aura’s face. Momonga seemed quite pleased with himself, as this reaction had fallen within his scope of prediction.

“Is, is that the legendary weapon of the highest order which only you may wield, Momonga-sama?”

“Legendary weapon? What did he mean by that?” I wondered.

I had my doubts, but after seeing Mare’s shining eyes, I knew the question had not been asked with malicious intentions.

“Indeed, this is the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, which I made with my guild members.”

“Yes, I remember. It was a fun adventure, collecting all those ingredients and resources for the stuff. Good times,” I said with a happy smile.

Momonga raised the Staff, and it immediately radiated a beautiful glow which lit up its surroundings. The glow was as blinding as the Staff itself. However, the surroundings were filled with inauspicious flickering shadows, which emitted an aura of menace.

Momonga’s voice was more animated and prouder when he spoke:

“The seven gems in the Staff’s snake mouths are all divine class artifacts. Since they all belong to a set, having them together unlocks even greater power beyond their base abilities. Gathering them all required an incalculable amount of time and effort, and many of our members stated that they wanted to quit during the process. I can’t remember how many monsters we farmed for their drops… anyway, in addition, the Staff’s power is beyond that of a divine class item. In fact, it almost approaches that of a World Class Item. Its most potent feature is its automatic engagement system… cough, cough.”

“...It would seem he had gotten carried away.” I thought while rolling my eyes.

We had built it with our comrades in the past, but because he had never taken it out before, there had been no chance for it to shine. Now that he had the chance to show it off, his praise surged forth like a rising tide. Momonga forcibly quelled his desire to flaunt the Staff.

“Mm, something like that.” Momonga muttered.

“That, that’s amazing…”

“That’s totally awesome, Momonga-sama!”

The Staff made me think about my own equipment.

My armor was a set, much like the 7 gems of the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, that drastically increased any and all air damage I do with my magic, but at the cost of making any other elemental spells I cast completely useless. It also let me have much finer control over my passive skills like [Electric Aura] that I normally couldn’t turn off, but my armor not only allowed me to turn it off but increase its range and power. For example, my [Electricity Defense] usually only did a set amount of damage, but I could increase its damage output as long as I was touching a target.

My thoughts were broken when I noticed Mare was staring at the sword on my back and then he asked me:

“Huh, Lord Tempest? W-would you mind me asking, what about your weapon? You know, the big sword on your back?”

As soon as Mare said that, Aura turned to look up at me with sparking eyes and an excited grin on her face.

“Please, Lord Tempest? Can we see it? Pleaseeeeee?” Aura begged me as she and Mare looked at me with expected gazes and those big puppy eyes they have.

“I guess I can’t say no to them. And quit laughing Momo!” I told myself.

I glanced at the chuckling Lich for aid, except he betrayed me by shrugging.

“Thanks man.” I thought sarcastically.

Rolling my eyes, I gave in, “Fine, you both can calm down now. But back up a little bit first though.”

Mare and Aura retreated to a safe distance before I reached up behind me with my right hand to grasp the hilt of my sword.

As I grasped it in my hand, I noticed how right it felt in my grip. I guess it made me feel nostalgic to wield it again.

I drew my sword to its full length as I held it up in one hand.

It’s light. Really light, as if I was lifting feathers and the grey steel edges glinted in the light, showing off the sharpness of its edges.

“This,” I said with reverence in my voice and clutching it in both hands, “is Jörmungandr.”

I got my sword and set of armor from the very same quest that changed my race to a Dragon, because of my fondness for Norse Mythology, I named my sword Jörmungandr after the Midgard Serpent that died in its battle with Thor but still managed to kill him with its venom. This is to remind me that even gods and monsters can be slain.

But still, Jörmungandr is mine and mine alone. I crafted and enchanted it with my hands and my hands alone.

I crafted this weapon with materials purely from Asgard’s mines and farming the rarest items I could find from the toughest monsters in Asgard, all to craft this single weapon.

Even after killing Thor, God of Thunder and Prince of Asgard, to get a single item, a gem with a magical effect, I needed for this weapon.

But it was totally worth it. All those hours I spent, countless nights and mornings I wasted crafting this one weapon.

I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

“Wow…” Mare said.

“It’s so big! It’s even bigger than me!” Aura said with a big smile on her face.

I smiled at their praise for Jörmungandr and pride surged through me along with the need to show off.

“But, ummmm…,” Mare muttered with his ears twitching, but I could already guess what he planned on saying.

“You’re wondering what’s so special about this sword, aren’t you?” I grinned at him as he tried really hard to hide his face and stammer an apology.

“Hahaha! It’s fine Mare. True, it doesn’t have a lot of things it can do, and it looks plain compared to the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, but one thing it can do…”

With a single thought, Jörmungandr crackled with electricity. The volts crackled as if they were devouring the sword itself for fuel, over the blade and burning really hot. I saw Aura and Mare cover their faces and sweating from the sudden heat and the dirt around me dried and cracked in seconds.

“It does pretty well.” I grinned, showing my sharp teeth before returning Jörmungandr into its base state and sheathing it.

Momonga almost laughed as he saw their eyes. He tried his best to suppress the delighted expression on his face — although skeletons had no expressions — and continued:

“Which was why we wanted to run some experiments with this Staff. I hope you can help us.”

“We would really appreciate any help.” I told the twins.

“Yes! Understood! We’ll go prepare right away! Then… could we see the power of Lord Tempest’s weapon and the Staff?”

“Mm, that’s fine. Then, I shall show you a fraction of the power of this mighty Staff, which only I can wield.” Momonga stated proudly.

“Awesome~” Aura exclaimed as she jumped up and down adorably.

Mare was hard-pressed to hide his delight, as could be seen from the twitching tips of his ears.

“...And there is one more thing, Aura. I have already ordered the other Guardians here. They will arrive within the hour.”

“Eh? Then, then we need to get ready for—”

“No, there is no need. All you need to do is stay here and wait for them.” I said.

“Is that so? Hm… all the Guardians — that means Shalltear’s coming too?”

“All the Guardians.” Momonga made clearly.

“...Haa.”

Aura’s long ears suddenly drooped.

However, Mare’s reaction was not as exaggerated as Aura’s. If I remember correctly, according to her backstory, Aura was designed to have a poor relationship with Shalltear, but that was probably not the case for Mare.

“What would happen next?” I sighed quietly.

“Aura can you put up some strawman dummies to use for target practice?” I asked, disrupting Aura in her trance of sadness.

“Of course, Lord Tempest, right away.” Aura answered joyfully.

After the Dragonkins that Aura commanded were setting up the target dummies so we could practice our magic and abilities.

Then, we peeked at the two huge monsters.

Their massive bodies were three meters tall and resembled inverted triangles.

Their skeletal structure was a mix of humans and dragons and covered in corded, sinewy muscles, which were in turn sheathed by a layer of scales that were harder than steel.

Their faces resembled those of dragons, while their tails were as thick as tree trunks. They were wingless and bipedal, like a dragon standing on its hind legs. Their arms were wider around than a man’s torso, and each was about half the length of its body. They bore weapons that resembled both a shield and a sword.

These monsters were called Dragonkin, and under the control of Aura’s beast tamer skills, they rearranged the Colosseum to her liking.

Although they were level fifty-five monsters with no special abilities of note, their powerful arms and prodigious stamina were a match for higher-leveled monsters.

Dragonkin, much like Dragonoids, are lesser cousins to actual dragons but they were also considered a much weaker version of a Dragonoid. They had no wings while a Dragonoid did, showing how much closer they were to an actual dragon and Dragonoids could cast magic while also being versed in physical combat, but Dragonkins can’t cast any type of magic.

“Lord Tempest, Lord Momonga! We’re done!” Aura yelled while waving at us.

“Welcome back, Aura. If you would, please place those targets over there and stand back.” I suggested.

Nodding, Aura turned to the Dragonkin behind her and said.

“Okay, you two, place them over there.” She waved to a nearby place.

The Dragonkin placed the two straw targets before walking back to the twins, standing behind them.

Me and Momonga approached them, me to the right and him to the left and the twins were looking at us with expectations.

This will be embarrassing if it doesn’t work.

“Do you want to go first or should I” I asked Momonga.

He shook his head and said, “No. Let me go first, I have an idea of what to do.”

Shrugging, I waited for Momonga to cast a spell and soon I saw him point his finger, preparing to cast a spell on the strawman in the corner of the arena.

Momonga did not know many pure damage spells. Instead, he focused on instant death spells with additional effects. As a result, he was less effective against non-living entities. He should have selected a simple damaging spell against a target like the one before him, but Momonga’s levels were largely in necromancy-type classes, which strengthened his necromantic spells. However, the effectiveness of these spells was several notches below a character whose class levels enhanced combat spells.

We glanced curiously at the children to the side, whose eyes were glittering in anticipation. I felt uneasy as I wondered whether we could live up to their expectations.

Momonga sighed softly, and then looked back at the strawmen.

It was quite troubling to have people look at us with expectation in their eyes. Our objective this time was to verify that we could use magic.

The reason for allowing Aura and Mare to witness this experiment was to impress our power upon them before the other Guardians arrived. In this way, they would learn that opposing us was a foolish course of action.

The two kids did not seem like they would betray us, nor did I feel that they would betray us. However, if we lost the ability to use magic, I doubt they would stay loyal to us.

Aura treated us as if we were old friends, but to me, it was the first time they had met. We could tell that the twins were the lovingly crafted embodiment of his guild members’ hard work.

However, there was no guarantee that their design and programming was perfect. In the face of countless situations and stimuli, a discrepancy or weakness might appear somewhere.

They were intelligent beings who could think on their own, so flaws in their reasoning must exist somewhere. If they were not programmed to be loyal to weaklings, what would that mean for him? In all likelihood, they were not written to be slavishly loyal. That would mean that whether or not they obeyed the order would depend on who the giver was. And it would be bad enough if they did not listen to us, but what if they betrayed their guild leader and his guild mate after finding out that they were powerless...?

It was not good to have too many doubts, but blind trust was not a wise move either.

We would cross that bridge when he came to it. Momonga seemed to have focused his mind to the present.

Another reason for coming here was that if I found that we could not use magic, we could discuss the situation with Aura and Mare.

The twins thought we had come to test the power of the Staff and my sword, so now that their power had been proven, we could cover up any ineffectiveness of our own magic.

It was a pretty good plan.

I could not help but congratulate myself. Had we ever been so cool and calculating in the past? Probably not but whatever.

I cast aside the doubts in my mind and focused on Momonga using the magic of YGGDRASIL.

There were over six thousand spells in the game, from Tier One to Tier Ten, as well as Super Tier magic. These spells were divided among various types and schools, and Momonga had informed me that he could use seven hundred and eighteen of them. A normal level one hundred player, like me, would only be able to use three hundred of them, so Momonga was an exceptional case.

Momonga had memorized almost all of these spells, and he was no doubt considering which one to use now.

To begin with, because the restriction on friendly fire had been lifted, we needed to know how the effective radius of a spell would show itself.

Therefore, he might decide against a single target spell, but pick an area effect spell. Next, considering his target was a strawman, he should—

In YGGDRASIL, he could cast a spell by tapping its respective icon. However, there were no icons for him to touch. Therefore, there had to be some other way.

I was not sure, but he might have a faint idea of how to use his magic.

“「Fireball」.”

As soon as Momo said those words, an expanding globe of flame shot out from the finger pointing at the strawman.

The fireball struck the strawman unerringly. It burst, releasing a wave of scorching flame that blew the strawman away. The inner part of the fireball exploded, turning the strawman and the surrounding area into a sea of fire.

All this happened in an instant. Then, besides the blackened strawman, there was nothing left.

“Holy shit, magic is real!” I thought.

“Holy hell, we can use magic!” I mentally yelled.

I looked at Momonga, mouth wide open, who was staring at his hand before hearing him giggle quietly under his breath.

“Fufufufu…”

Aura and Mare watched Momonga snicker, clueless as to what was going on.

“Who laughs like that anyway? Oh, it doesn’t matter, questions later, magic now.” I told myself.

“Yo Momonga? How did you do that?” I asked him which got his attention.

“Just focus the spell you want to cast and say its name. You should get information about the spell itself in your head Tempest.” He said to me.

“Got it, let’s try [Lightning] then.”

[Lightning] was a 3rd tier spell that shoots a bolt of lightning from the tip of the caster's finger. It is effective against targets wearing metal armor. The lightning generates and pierces in a straight line.

I held out my right index finger, same as Momonga, and thought about the spell I wanted to cast and instantly got hit with information about the spell; Mana cost, CDs, radius of the spell and other things along with something inside of me, like a well of power that’s just waiting for me to release it.

“[Lighting]” I chanted.

Similar to Momonga’s fireball, a spark of spark of electricity appeared at the tip of my finger but mine was different from an average player’s.

Whereas a regular player like Momonga casted a surge of lighting that was wild and uncontrolled, mine is straighter and neater. The bolt of lighting shot forward towards the target, making a streak of light and hitting the straw doll.

The straw doll caught on fire and started burning but was quickly reduced to a pile of ashes.

“Jesus mother loving Christ alive.” I mentally shouted to myself.

I slowly looked at my hand that casted the spell.

I looked Momonga, his jaw was slightly open.

I looked at the blond twins, the Dragonkin in front of them to guard against the heat, to see Aura with a wide grin on her face and Mare with a shocked expression, their ears were twitching.

I looked back at the ashes. It felt kinda satisfying to succeed.

“So,” I turned to Momonga, still staring at me, “Magic works.”

“—Indeed. Aura, set up another strawman.”

“Ah, yes, at once! You two, hurry up and do it!”

The two Dragonkin both picked up a strawman and placed them besides the burned us.

Momonga paced around the strawman, before casting a spell on it:

“「Napalm」.”

I decided it was my turn.

“[Electro Whip].”

A column of flame appeared beside Momonga’s strawman, engulfing it in fire.

Momonga paused a beat, then cast another spell on the remnants of the strawman:

“「Fireball」.”

The fireball struck the remains of the strawman, scattering its ashes in a puff of smoke.

The recast time between spells was the same as in YGGDRASIL. The actual process of casting was faster than in YGGDRASIL. Previously, in order to cast an area effect spell, he would need to choose the spell, then move the area effect cursor over the desired area. The process now was quicker than that.

“Perfect,” Momonga said, his voice filled with the same satisfaction he felt in his heart.

Now, back to my straw doll.

[Electro Whip] is a 6th tier spell that creates a cord of electric snakes on Tempest’s arm. This cord can be used to grab enemies and damage them. It was less flashy then my [Lightning] spell but it costed much less mana and was more versatile, if less damaging.

A small chord of electricity is wrapped around my hand, like a snake constricting its prey and I felt the meagre drain of my MP as I casted the spell.

I shoot out my left hand to the straw doll and the whip flew through the air until it hit the target, coiling itself around it and burning it.

As the whip wrapped itself around the strawman, I noticed that it worked differently than in it did in YGGDRASIL.

[Electro Whip] was simply a way for me to bring the target in close range, for me to deal the most damage with Jörmungandr but here it seems to work like a real whip.

Deciding to test it out, I lifted my left arm up towards the sky. The next instant, the straw doll ripped out of the ground and went upwards to the sky.

Oh man.

Well, now seemed like a good time to test out another spell.

“[Electrosphere]” I chanted as three spheres made of electricity materialized besides my shoulders and shot towards the straw doll in the air. Normally players could only create one sphere with this spell, but I used Triplet magic to make three. Unlike the original spell, which can only create one object, this magic allows the user to create three of the same object from that spell without casting it again. It's most likely a superior version of Twin Magic.

Nice to find out that I don’t need to gesture for spells I didn’t before and the spheres still tracked their target, even in mid-air.

The three spheres struck the straw doll, one in the head and two in the body, setting it ablaze and reducing it to nothing more than ash, my whip lost its grip since it had nothing to hold onto now and snapped back to my hand.

“What is your verdict, Momonga?” I asked my friend, dismissing the [Electro Whip].

“Perfect, Tempest. Simply perfect.” He said with a satisfied tone in his voice.

“I certainly liked it.”

“Momonga-sama, Tempest-sama should I prepare more strawmen?”

Aura still did not understand. She was already aware that Momonga and me were a mighty magic caster, so she must have felt that the show before her wasn’t anything special.

However, that was the impression we wanted to give them, and from the look on the twin’s faces, it would seem we had succeeded.

“...No, there is no need. I wish to try something else.”

After rejecting Aura’s suggestion, Momonga began his next experiment.

“「Message」.”

Out of nowhere, I felt something ‘click’ in my head and connected to something else.

[Message] “Tempest? Can you hear me?” I heard a familiar, baritone voice in my head.

“Oh god, this was definitely going to give me a headache. How do I respond?” I wondered.

[Message] “I can man, but I’m not sure if you can hear me or not.”

[Message] “I can hear you. Good, it looks as if [Message] still works then.”

[Message] “This is [Message]? Seems more complicated than a chat box, but I guess it’ll do. Have you tried contacting a GM or something.?”

[Message] “I was going to. Can you try contacting someone else through this?”

[Message] “Sure, I’ll try contacting a GM, then some of the guys from the guild and anyone else I know. I hope someone answers.”

[Message] “Hopefully Donny.” Momonga gave me instructions on how to use [Message] before he cut the connection.

Okay, time to give this a shot.

The best way I could think of to describe using [Message] would be that it’s basically a magic version of a phone. It rang and rang, but if it didn’t go through then it would hang up.

The first party I tried to contact was a GM. In YGGDRASIL, when one used the 「Message」 spell, as long as the other party was within the game, one would hear a call tone. Otherwise, there would be no sound, and the spell would immediately terminate.

What happened now was somewhere between both of those. It felt like something was constantly reaching out, as though looking for something to connect to. This was the first time I had experienced something like this, and it was difficult to describe.

This feeling continued for a while, and in the end, after failing to connect, the 「Message」 spell ended.

A profound sense of disappointment flooded through me.

I tried casting the same spell again. This time, he did not choose a GM.

This time, I picked one of his comrades from the past — a member of Ainz Ooal Gown.

I cast the spell, though my heart was filled with one part of hope and ninety-nine parts of resignation. As expected, there was no response. I tried to contact the forty, no, forty-one members of the Guild with a 「Message」. I tried contacting Peroroncino, Touch Me, and even Ulbert, but after receiving no reply, I gently shook my head.

Nothing.

In truth, I had expected this outcome and had resigned myself to it, but actually being confronted by that fact filled me with an incomparable feeling of despair.

“Anything?” I asked Momo.

Momonga shook his head, “No, nothing. Is it the same with you?”

“Yep,” I nodded, “I tried contacting everyone. And no answer.”

“I expected as much, but still though…” He trailed off, “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to contact Sebas on our current location.”

“Cool dude. I’ll go check on Albedo? See if everything’s alright with her?” I asked Momonga as he seemed to think about it.

After a moment he said, “Do that. We’ll get a good idea of when she and the other Guardians will arrive and if they ran into any complications on the way.”

Nodding my head, I sent a [Message] to Albedo, feeling a ‘click’ to something.

—It got through.

This proved that the 「Message」 spell was working, and that most likely, it could only contact people within this new world.

[Message] “Lord Tempest, may I be of service to you?” I heard Albedo say before I said anything to her.

Weird, she knows who I am before I even tell her, but the Floor Guardians seem to know more about magic than me or Momonga at the moment.

[Message] “No Albedo. I’m just checking to see how things are going on your end and to see if everything is okay.”

“Everything is going well, Lord Tempest. I have informed the Guardians and your personal creations that we should be on the 6th floor in 20 minutes or so, but…”

What could she want now?

[Message] “Albedo, is something wrong. Are all the Floor Guardians alright? ARE MY CREATIONS ALRIGHT!?”

[Message] “Ah! No, nothing like that. I’m with Demiurge at the moment and I just saw Cocytus, Lucifer, Belle, and Toro; but it’s just… Lord Tempest, can I ask you a question? About Lord Momonga?”

Can already tell I’m not going to like this.

[Message] “That depends on what the question is but ask anyway.”

[Message] “Thank you Lord Tempest. I was wondering, what kind of woman does Lord Momonga like?”

Sheesh.

I definitely didn’t see that one coming.

But how should I respond? Me and Momonga never talked about this kind of stuff!

[Message] “Well, I can’t personally say what kind of woman Momonga prefers, but I do know he would prefer a very loyal and loving woman.”

Oh, who am I kidding?! Every man on the planet would. But hey, Momonga is a man so this technically applies.

Anyway, back to the point. Why would Albedo ask me this kind of questi…

Oh right.

Damn it!

[Message] “Of course Lord Tempest! I shall always be by his side as his loving wife, but it’s just that when I talked to Shalltear and told her about the meeting, she seemed very enthusiastic and I realized that she was un-“

Right, I can already tell where this is going, even though I wish I didn’t.

[Message] “Albedo, trust me when I say that Momonga doesn’t care if you’re undead or not. It doesn’t matter to him, whatsoever.” I cut her off before she talks my ears off.

[Message] “A-ah, truly?”

[Message] “Yes, truly. I don’t have a lot of experience in this matter, but I can assure you that you just need to act like yourself and everything will turn out fine.”

Hopefully anyway. Hell, I really should talk to Momonga about this.

[Message] “Thank you, Lord Tempest. That helps me more than you know.”

[Message] “I’m always happy to help Albedo. Give my regards to Demiurge and I’ll see the both of you at the meeting.”

[Message] “Of course. Until then, Lord Tempest.”

God, what an odd conversation that was.

…

What an enlightening conversation that was.

Albedo disconnected the [Message] spell to Lord Tempest and felt relief flood into her as she pondered over Lord Tempest’s words.

When Albedo contacted Shalltear about the meeting and noticed how enthusiastic she was to meet Lord Momonga, she thought that ugly lamprey had a head start on her beloved.

“Who was that just now, Albedo?” She heard a smooth voice break her thoughts.

Turning her head back, she said, “That was Lord Tempest, Demiurge. He was checking to see if anything was wrong. He also gave his regards to you.”

“Lord Tempest? I look forward to meeting one of the 41 Supreme Beings.” Demiurge mused out loud to himself and looked at Albedo, “You’ve met him Albedo, tell me. What is your opinion of him?”

Albedo stopped to think about Lord Momonga’s companion who was also one of the 41 Supreme Beings.

For as long as she could remember, Lord Tempest was a close friend of Lord Momonga and the other Supreme Beings, offering help and fending off invaders on occasion.

Even so. He stayed with her love to the end. Stayed behind when nobody else did.

For that, she’ll be forever grateful to him.

“Lord Tempest is a part of Nazarick and one of the Supreme Beings we swore our absolute loyalty to. He has defended Nazarick in the past and I have no doubt he will do so again in an instant.” Albedo was resolute in her judgment.

“Oh, I have no doubt his loyalty is to Nazarick. I’m just curious what kind of person he is and if he deserves to stand by Lord Momonga’s side. Even though I shouldn’t say such things about a Supreme Being.”

Albedo hummed in thought, “In that case, don’t expect him to be like a normal Dragon. He is much more than that and he isn’t offended easily. Other than that, I can’t really say. You’ll just have to meet him yourself to find out.” Albedo told him.

“I shall. I look forward to it then.”

“As do I. Come Demiurge, we need to reach the 6th Floor for the meeting.”

…

“Christ, I hope I never have to give her love advice ever again. Trying to set her up with Momo made me feel like a dating service. Besides, isn’t Momonga a skeleton now? Is he even capable of intercourse?” I wondered much to my own horror.

Wait, am I capable of having sex?

“What did Albedo tell you?” Momonga asked me, breaking me out of my thoughts of depression.

“Nothing really. She and the rest will be here in 20 minutes or so, but you and I need to have a serious conversation. In privately.” I not so subtly glanced at the Dark Elf twins’ expectant faces.

“Indeed.” He said then looked at Aura and Mare. “Let me handle this.”

I remembered that he had already told them he was going to verify the Staff’s power, so he had to let them see it. Momonga grasped the Staff and pondered which fraction of its might he should reveal.

The numberless powers within the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown seemed to be begging Momonga to unleash them.

Right now, he needed a flashy spell.

“「Summon Primal Fire Elemental」.”

“Wait what?” I mentally wondered.

In accordance with Momonga’s will, the Orb of Fire grasped within one of the Staff’s snake mouths pulsed with puissance. A vast ball of light bloomed from the tip of the Staff, and a vortex of roaring flame spilled forth from that globe of radiance.

The fires spun faster and faster, until the tornado of flame reached a width of four meters and a height of six meters.

The crimson inferno threw off gusts of scorching air in all directions.

From the corner of my eye, I could see the Dragonkin protecting Aura and Mare with their vast bodies. The searing winds made Momonga’s cape flap violently. So intense was the heat that it would not have been unusual for a normal person to be burned by them, but I wasn’t worried about Momonga since he had acquired complete immunity to fire damage in order to negate one of the weaknesses of the undead, so it had no effect on him at all.

As for me, well, it would take a lot more than a little fire to hurt me.

As the hot winds twisted and turned, I could feel myself becoming invigorated by the flames and the heat felt pleasant.

Soon, the vast cyclone of fire, swallowing the surrounding air as it burned hot enough to melt metal, began to flicker and shudder as it took a humanoid form.

Primal Fire Elementals could be said to be among the highest ranking among all elemental monsters. They were over level eighty-five.

But I can summon a Primal Air Elemental that’s even stronger.

“Still though. Momonga can summon one with just the Staff? I would be impressed if I wasn’t jealous.” I said bitterly.

“Uwah...”

Aura was watching it intently as she made noises of surprise.

As she looked upon the top tier elemental, something that even her summoning powers would not be able to bring forth, Aura’s face bore a look of excited admiration, like a child who had just received a dearly beloved present.

This just gave me an idea.

“[Summon Primal Air Elemental].” I cast while I felt power was building inside me.

“What?” I heard Momonga exclaim.

A bright blue circle appeared next to Momonga’s Primal Fire Elemental then I felt a large gust of wind as is an evil spirit that resembles a humanoid tornado appeared from the circle.

A Primal Air Elemental is a powerful level 87 elemental spirit that is the incarnation of air. Primal Air Elemental is an evil spirit that resembles that of a humanoid tornado. Primal Air Elemental is a level 87 monster that is capable of manipulating air and electricity. Possessing extraordinary attack power and stamina, this monster can deal area-effect air damage. It's considered to be among the highest tier of Elementals.

Oddly enough, I felt a connection to this creature.

“Hey, Aura,” I called out to her.

“Ah? Y-yes, Lord Tempest?” She asked, still looking at the Elementals.

“...Do you want to fight them?” I asked her.

“Eh?” She whipped her head to look at me.

“Ehhhhh?” Mare looked at me, pleading.

After a moment of hesitation, Aura grinned innocently. Compared to a normal child’s smile, hers was a little — no — the truth was that it was quite scary. In contrast, Mare’s smile from the side seemed more like that of a child.

“Can I? L-lord Momonga? Lord Tempest?” She asked us to make sure it was alright.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine even if you defeat them.” Momonga said while shrugging.

The Staff could summon one Primal Fire Elemental a day. In other words, the Staff could summon another such being after one day had passed. As such, defeating it would not be a great loss.

And I can summon one Primal Air Elemental a day. So, no biggie.

“Ah, I suddenly remembered that I had some errands to do…” Mare said, hoping to avoid fighting.

“Mare.” Aura yelled.

Poor kid, he didn’t even stand a chance.

Aura used her hand to reach out and firmly grasp Mare’s arm, not allowing him to escape. His sister had no intention of fleeing. Aura’s smile stopped Mare in his tracks. Perhaps to us it might have been a cute girl’s smile, but to the other person present, who looked almost the same as Aura, it was anything but cute, and Mare’s face froze solid as he looked on it.

She dragged Mare in front of the Primal Fire Elemental and Primal Air Elemental. Mare’s eyes looked around, and he looked desperately to us for help.

In response to his hopeful smile that blossomed delicately on his face, I only smiled at him reassuringly and Momonga simply clapped.

The flower of hope promptly wilted.

“All right, try your best, you two. Don’t blame me if you get hurt.” I said, still smiling.

“We will, Lord Tempest~, come on Mare!”

Aura responded energetically, in contrast with Mare’s nearly inaudible and despondent reply. I felt that as long as Mare was around, neither of them would get hurt.

“Begin!” Momonga shouted and clapped his hands.

As soon as he clapped, the two Elementals roared and rushed toward the twins, kicking up flames and dirt as they went to attack them.

As the conflagration that was the two Elementals approached them, the twins met their attack with Aura as the frontliner while Mare was the rear guard.

Aura slashed at the Primal Fire Elemental then the Primal Air Elemental, holding her whip in both her hands, while Mare used magic to deal damage.

“Well, it seems it’ll be an easy fight.” I told Momo as we both watched the twins have fun with the Elementals.

“Indeed. But why did you summon a Primal Air Elemental?” Momonga asked seemingly out of curiosity.

Shrugging, I said, “Well, you summoned something, so I didn’t want to be left out.”

“Oh.” Momonga said in understanding.”

“Anyway. So, you want to go first? I kinda want to hear what you were talking with Sebas about.” I asked so we could get back to the matter at hand.

“I’m afraid it’s not good. Sebas has told me some alarming information. It went like this-” with that, Momonga recalled the conversation he had with Sebas.

…

Flashback of Momonga’s conversation with Sebas:

I decided to contact Sebas.

—It went through.

Apparently the 「Message」 spell still worked, and it most likely could only contact people within this new world.

[Message] “Momonga-sama.”

A voice of deepest respect echoed through my mind. I considered that Sebas might have been bowing to him on the other side of the 「Message」, like in real-life companies.

Just then, Sebas spoke again, as I fell silent from thinking about these ridiculous things.

[Message] “...May I ask if something is wrong Lord Momonga?”

[Message] “Ah, ahhh, forgive me. I spaced out there. That’s right, how are the surroundings like?”

[Message] “Yes. We are surrounded by plains, with no intelligent creatures in sight.”

[Message] “A plain… not a swamp?”

The Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick should have been bordered by a swamp that was inhabited by frog-like demi-humans called Tuvegs. The swamp was shrouded in mist, and it was poisonous.

[Message] “Yes. There are only plains around us.”

I could not help but smile, even though I could not make a smile.

All this was too much...

[Message] “In other words, the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick has been wholly transported to a different place? …Sebas, is there anything floating in the sky, or did anything like a message appear?”

[Message] “No, there is nothing like that. The heavens are as boundless as the Sixth Floor’s night sky.”

[Message] “What!? Did you say night sky?... Is there anything suspicious around you?”

[Message] “No… I have not seen anything unusual. Besides the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, there are no other man-made structures in sight.”

[Message] “Is that so… is that so…”

What should I say? All I could do was grab my head and try to think. But in my heart, I knew that this was most likely the case.

Sebas’ silence was a subtle hint that he was awaiting orders. I glanced at the strap on his left wrist. In another twenty minutes, the other Guardians would arrive. If that was the case, there was only one order I could give.

[Message] “Return in twenty minutes. When you come back to Nazarick, head to the Colosseum. All the Floor Guardians and Tempest’s creations will be coming, so when you arrive, I hope you will tell them about what you saw.

[Message] “Understood.”

[Message] “Then, gather as much information as you can before you return.”

After hearing Sebas’ acknowledgement, I terminated the 「Message」 spell.

…

End of flashback:

When he finished telling me what Sebas said, I was left dumbstruck.

“Your kidding, right?” I put my hand on my forehead, trying to ward off a headache.

“It’s true,” Momonga said, “But he’ll tell us himself when he comes to the meeting to give a more detailed report and inform all the Floor Guardians of the situation.”

“Great, just great,” I sighed, “Well, I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”

“Good news, please. I really need some right now.”

“Okay, well, Albedo has told all the Floor Guardians and my NPCs, and they should arrive here in about 20 minutes or so. As for the bad news, well…” I scratched the back of my head as I tried to come up with a way to say what I found out about Albedo.

Oh, well. I guess I’ll just have to be blunt.

“Right, so, it turns out that Albedo is madly in love with you.”

He looked at me.

“Eh?”

“Yeahhhh…you remember that edit you made before the ‘shutdown’?” It seemed to have taken effect.”

He just looked at me, still in stunned silence.

“Congratulations buddy boy,” I said while slapping him on the back, “You’re getting married. I can hear the wedding bells already.”

That seemed to have snapped him out of his little funk and then he slowly put his hand on his face.

“Oh, Tabula-san, I’m sorry. I’ve sullied your NPC…” He bemoaned.

I’m pretty sure she was sullied before the edit, but I’m sure he doesn’t want to hear that right now.

“Relax Momo. I told you already, we had no idea this could’ve happened.” I reassured him.

“Yeah, that’s true,” He sighed and looked at the twins fight with the Elementals, “Let’s go over what we know so far.”

“Got it,” I nodded, “Well, we know magic works, our items work, and our passives work too. What about functions, like our inventory? Can we access it?”

“Huh,” Momo grabbed his chin in though, “Let’s find out.”

Momonga brought his hand up to the air and I saw his arm be consumed by a dark void. He swiped to the side of the air and as he did, a black hole opened up in the air.

I looked into the hole to see all manner of scrolls, wands, weapons, armor, cosmetic items, gems, potions, other consumables… the sheer number of magic items in there was awe-inspiring. in the space, floating.

“Wow. I can’t believe how much stuff you kept in your inventory.” I exclaimed as Momo sighed in relief.

“You never know when these will come in handy.”

“When have you ever used these things?”

“No matter,” Momonga deflected my question, “Now you try. It’s the same as in YGGDRASIL, just think on it like a spell.”

“Sure.” I raised my hand to the air and thought about my inventory and, much like Momonga, my arm was covered by darkness. It felt like I was breaking through the surface of water, only it wasn’t hot or cold. I swiped to the left to open my inventory.

There were swords, suits of armor, spell books, my helmet, and various other items in there.

“Is all that yours?” I heard Momonga say in an incredulous tone.

“I guess I’m a hoarder like you. Although, it’s not like I need all this stuff.” I said as I closed my inventory, leaving my helmet in there since I didn’t see any point in wearing it.

“Very well. I suppose that will do for now, but enough of that. What do you think of the NPCs?” Momonga asked me as we both watched the twins who were still fighting the Elemental that seemed to be getting sluggish.

“They’re clearly not NPCs. Not anymore. They act too ‘human’ to be just bits of data and commands. I mean, they act a certain way because of certain things, but they still have thoughts and feelings. Which scares me to no end, but it’s not like we can really do anything about it. I can only wonder how my NPCs will turn out.”

“Oh right. You told me you created four of them. What were there names again? It’s been some time since I’ve heard about them.”

“One of my NPCs is a Fallen Angel called Lucifer Shadows who is stationed on the 8th floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick with Victim and Aureole Omega, another NPC is Belle von bane who is a Doppelgänger like that Pandora’s Actor NPC you created and she patrols the first three floors of the Great Tomb of Nazarick with Shalltear Bloodfallen, Heretic is another one of mine and he’s an Automaton like CZ, he is stationed on the 6th floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick in his medical office but I had Sebas bring him with him outside to survey the area, and finally there’s the Minotaur NPC Toro I stationed in my room.”

“You certainly aren’t lacking in variety,” Momonga noted. “What made you create them?”

“I wanted a demi-human who specialized in close-quarters combat, a shapeshifter seemed versatile, a robot doctor and assassin seemed handy, and I just think angels are cool.” I told him my reasons for creating my NPCs.

“I look forward to meeting them.” Momonga informed me.

“Me too.” I muttered.

“But anyway, what do you think of the world? Do you think we could be in another world? Considering all that’s happened and what Sebas learned…”

“Honestly? After all the crazy things that have happened so far, I wouldn’t deny the possibility. I mean, suddenly, the digital world becomes reality with no warning at all. It’s not like it’s the weirdest thing to happen today. But we’ll have to check later.” I told him while trying really hard not to think of all the possibilities happening in the span of a short time.

“You have me there, but if that’s the case, the rules of YGGDRASIL shouldn’t apply here. You should be able to use staves and I should be able to use swords, for example.

“It’s possible, but we can try that later. We should get our bearings before anything else and search for evidence that other players are here.We’re just strangers in an even stranger land right now.”

“True. Do you think the other guild members are here? Or anyone else for that matter?” He asked me.

“I hope Bone Daddy. Like I said, we’ll have to search for any clues or evidence or something. There has to be some intelligent life here that we can contact and speak to.”

“Hopefully.” Momonga sighed heavily as we watch the twins butcher the Elemental.

By now the Elemental’s flames are much dimmer and weak along with its even more sluggish movements which told me that Aura and Mare are almost done.

“Looks like they’re almost finished. Anything else you want to talk about before they kill it Momo?”

“Yes. There is one thing that comes to mind.” Momonga nodded grimly before staring at me.

“Tempest. Do you want to return home?” Momonga asked me in a serious tone.

That question stomped me. Not because of the question, but because the answer was so obvious.

Of course, I do. I’d like to go back home.

I want to see my mother again, help her around the house and I want to see my dad again and learn how I might take over his hotel business someday.

I want to see my family again.

It wasn’t a question of if, it’s a question of how.

“How will I go home?” I asked myself in mind.

I have no clue. I really don’t. And I doubt Momo knows either.

“I-I-”

“Lord Tempest! Lord Momonga! We’re done!” I heard Aura yell.

I turned to see the gigantic Primal Fire Elemental and Primal Air Elemental vanish slowly, as though melting away into nothing. The blazing heat and strong winds that they left in their wake began to disappear.

Both Elementals possessed extraordinary attack power and stamina, but to Aura, who could ignore the damage of their area effect flames and lightning and could nimbly evade their blows, they were little more than giant targets.

Although Aura would still lose HP if she were attacked, Mare the druid would not permit that to occur. In fact, he had cast all sorts of buffs and debuffs to great effect during the battle.

The two of them played their roles as frontliner and rear guard perfectly, with flawless teamwork. At the same time, I could feel the reality of this battle, completely unlike those I had fought in the game.

I saw Aura and Mare running toward us.

“We’ll finish this discussion later, Tempest. Sorry for asking such an invasive question.” Momonga whispered to me, his voiced was filled with regret.

I released a heavy sigh and whispered back, “It’s cool. You’re just trying to help, but for now let’s just deal with one thing at a time.”

“Sure.” He said and then we turned to the twins, who were both still running towards us while covered in sweat.

“Spectacular… the two of you put on a good show.” Momonga praised them.

“Yes, your teamwork was remarkable.” I complimented them along with Momonga.

The twins smiled happily as they heard our sincere praise.

“Thank you, Lord Momonga, Lord Tempest! It’s been some time since we had to work so hard!”

The two of them tried to wipe off their sweat, but right after they did, more of it beaded on their skin, rolling down their dark skin.

Momonga silently opened his inventory and withdrew a magic item — a Pitcher of Endless Water.

In YGGDRASIL, there were statuses like hunger and thirst, but neither of those applied to my undead buddy Momonga, so he had no use for items like those. At most, he used them on his mounts.

The glass pitcher was filled with water. Droplets of condensation immediately formed on the surface of the glass; probably because the water inside was very cold.

Momonga then took out a pair of beautiful glasses, filled them with water from the Pitcher, and gave them to the twins.

“Aura, Mare, have a drink.”

“Eh? But that’s not good, right, Momonga-sama…”

“Y-Yes, I can make water with my magic too…”

Momonga smiled bitterly as he saw Aura waving her hand and Mare shaking his head.

“Think nothing of it. The two of you have always done well. Think of this as my thanks to you.”

“Fuwa~”

“Fuee~”

Aura and Mare’s ears turned red, and they shyly, nervously reached out to take the glasses.

“Th-Thank you, Momonga-sama!”

“To, to think you would pour water for us, Momonga-sama!”

Was this so delightful?

Aura, who had ceased her protests, took the glass in both hands and downed it in one gulp. Droplets of water escaped the corner of her mouth, down the smooth curves of her pulsing throat and into the jerkin covering her chest. Mare held his cup with both hands and slowly sipped from it. The differences between them were obvious even in the way they drank water.

“Do you want more?”

Momonga raised the Pitcher as he asked the twins, who had finished their water.

“Er, thanks! I’ve drunk enough!”

“Is that so? Then, Mare, do you want some more?”

“Eep! Er, er, I, I’ve also had enough. I, I don’t feel thirsty anymore.”

Momonga nodded as he took back the glasses, before returning them all into his pocket space.

“Maybe I should give them a reward to. I don’t want them to think less of me.” I reminded myself.

“Excuse me, Aura, Mare! Please come because I also have something to give you.”

I reached into my inventory and pulled out a small white box.

The box was full of many different candies like chocolates and jelly beans.

This item was called [The Box of Infinite Sweets].

I bought this item while I played YGGDRASIL, I got it from the game store.

The box generated infinite amounts of different candies without cost but after 25 candy charges, it takes a day to cooldown.

Aura and Mare’s faces reddened deeply.

“Lord Tempest! We can’t take any more from the Supreme Beings rations. That would be disrespectful.”

“Nonsense, I don’t care about candy. Please have some.” I said while smiling to the twins.

The Dark Elves slowly and shyly approached me and each of them took a candy.

Aura took a jawbreaker and Mare got a chocolate bar.

As for me, I took a cherry jolly rancher from the box and put it in my mouth then I placed the box back in my inventory.

The two Dark Elves were enjoying their candy.

Aura suddenly whispered, “I thought Lord Tempest and Lord Momonga would be scarier than this.”

“Oh? Really? Well, if you feel that way…” Momonga said since he clearly heard her.

“But we like you both this way! It’s the best!”

“Then we’ll leave it at that.”

Momonga was taken somewhat aback by Aura’s passionate answer.

“Lord Momonga, Lord Tempest, are we the only ones that you’re nice to…?”

I was unsure how to answer Aura’s muttered question. Instead, I patted her lightly on the head.

I like to think we’re nice to others as well. But I didn’t say that because I was worried that she’d take it the wrong way.

“Ehehehe.”

Aura looked like a puppy that had just seen something she liked, while Mare had a jealous look on his face. Just then, a voice rang out:

“Oya, am I the first to arrive?”

The tone was archaic and formal, but the voice itself sounded like it belonged to a young person. A shadow formed over the ground, and then the shadow turned into what looked like a door, from which a person emerged.

She wore a black ball gown which looked soft to the touch. Her skirt was puffed up into a voluminous bell shape. On top of that was a bolero edged with frills, lace, and ribbons, as well as a pair of long silk gloves. Together, they covered up most of her skin.

Her skin was as pale as wax, and her looks could only be described as stunningly beautiful. Her long silver hair was tied up into a ponytail that descended from one side of her head, exposing her face. Her deep red pupils were filled with a seductive look of delight.

She looked to be fourteen years old, or younger, and her innocent, youthful appearance combined the qualities of cuteness and beauty into a single whole. However, her breasts bulged proudly forward in a decidedly unchildlike manner.

This was Shalltear Bloodfallen, the Guardian of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

Who, by the smell, seems to be wearing incredibly strong perfume.

Oh, joy.

I’ve never really had much interest in relationships, so I never bothered to take notice of certain body features like breasts or pectorals.

“...Weren’t you told not to frivolously use 「Gate」 in Nazarick? We are warded against teleportation, after all. You should be able to walk here, so shouldn’t you have come on foot, Shalltear?”

Aura’s annoyed voice came from beside Momonga. There was no trace of its previous puppy-like obedience in those cold words, only a burning hostility.

Mare was trembling by the side, and he slowly edged himself away from his sister. In truth, the speed at which the leopard called Aura had changed its spots startled me as well.

The girl who had come here via the highest tier of teleportation magic was called Shalltear. She did not even bother looking at Aura, who was scowling at her. Instead, she swiftly advanced before me and Momonga.

“...Something stinks,” Aura spat. Then, she followed up with, “Don’t tell me you started rotting because you’re undead?”

“Wait, isn’t Momonga undead?” I mentally pointed out.

Momonga must have noticed the comment and reflexively raised his hand to sniff himself.

“Pft!” I snorted uncontrollably before trying to get myself back under control, though the glare from Momonga informed me that I wasn’t doing a good job.

I noticed Shalltear furrowed her brows unhappily and replied:

“...Is that not quite distasteful? Lord Momonga is undead as well.”

“Hah? What nonsense are you talking, Shalltear? Momonga-sama is no mere undead being. He’s more like a super undead, or a godly undead.”

What the shit is a godly undead? Well, I know an Overlord is an incredibly rare race of undead, but I wouldn’t call it a godly undead.

In any case, there were no such things as super or godly undead.

“So, Mare. Do Shalltear and Aura always act like this?” I asked him as Aura and Shalltear agreed that, yes, Momonga is a godly undead.

“Er, yes L-lord Tempest. This is just how their relationship is.” Mare said, confirming my thoughts.

Huh, interesting. I wonder if they know they were made to be NPCs? I should investigate.

“But, but s-sis, maybe you shouldn’t have said that? I mean, Lord M-Momonga is still an undead s-so…”

“Yes, that’s true. All right, then, ah, take two, then. Ahem… Don’t tell me you started rotting because you’re a walking corpse.”

“Oh, why Aura?” I was beginning to think she had a death wish.

“That… er, well, that seems okay, sort of.”

Not helping Mare.

After agreeing with Aura’s take two, Shalltear placed her slender hands on the sides of my head, as though to embrace it.

“Ah, my Lord Tempest, my beloved master, one of the few whom I cannot rule over…”

Her carmine lips parted, revealing a moist, slick tongue. The tongue moved like a living creature as Shalltear lovingly licked her lips. Her fragrant breath wafted out from her open mouth.

Although she was perfectly suited for the role of an alluring seductress in all other ways, she was far too young for it. The discrepancy between her expectations and reality was laughable. In addition, she was far too short. When she reached her hands out to hug me, it looked like she wanted to hang from my neck instead.

However, this was far too much affection for me since I was not used to girls and I didn’t enjoy hugs. Except maybe from my mother. I wanted to take a step back, but in the end, I decided to stand his ground.

Is that how she really is? That thought echoed endlessly in my head. However, when I thought about the fact that she had been designed by our comrade Peroroncino, I mused that she might have been designed with such a personality. After all, Peroroncino loved H-games and proudly declared that they were his life.

Shalltear Bloodfallen was made by such a rotten individual.

She was a "True Vampire", the Guardian of the First to Third Floors of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

At the same time, she was a girl created by an H-game aficionado and her character design was filled with nods to various H-games.

“...That’s enough out of you…”

Shalltear reacted to the low growl for the first time. In a mocking tone, she told Aura, “Ara, are you still here, shorty? I couldn’t see you, so I thought you were gone.”

Shorty? You’re not much taller than her.

I did not wish to add to what Shalltear had just said.

Aura’s face was twitching uncontrollably.

Then Shalltear moved to embrace Momonga, who was surprised at the gesture of unrestrained affection.

It was a comical display since Momonga was much taller than her.

“Oh, my beloved Lord Momonga. I always enjoy gazing upon your beauty!” Shalltear said in a sickeningly sweet tone.

Then Shalltear retreated back and turned towards me and Momonga, but when she stared at us, she had a conflicted expression on her face.

“Ahhhhhh… who to choose? Lord Momonga’s illustrious, chiseled bones are so alluring and his hellish red pupils, but Lord Tempest’s rugged face and sharp teeth, oh… and to ride a Dragon…”

What the hell?

Were me and Momonga being sized up or something? I feel like a piece of meat being sized up before being devoured.

Oh right.

Peroroncino made her.

Oh god, Peroroncino made her.

“…Shut up!” I heard Aura growl at her like some sort of feral beast.

Shalltear ignored her and said to Mare, “It must be pretty tough for you, having to deal with a weirdo sister like that. You’d best leave her soon, lest you become a weirdo like her.”

Mare’s face blanched instantly, because I knew Shalltear wanted to use him to start a fight.

I wasn’t having any of this anymore.

“Shalltear!” I said to her, voice rumbling.

Shalltear looked at me in shock and her face quit smirking, “Y-yes, L-lord Tempest?”

“Whatever’s going on between you and Aura stays between the two of you. Do not drag Mare into your squabbles or to cause friction, understand?” I put my hand on Mare’s shoulder to stop him from trembling and to make sure he’s calms down.

“A-ah! I’m so sorry Lord Tempest…” Shalltear responded, sounding depressed, but with a heavy blush on her face I heard her mutter, “Ah…to be scolded by Lord Tempest…”

Yeah, I’m just going to ignore that.

“Hmph. It serves you right.” Aura spat at Shalltear, yet she didn’t seem satisfied, if anything, she seemed pissed off.

“Don’t be that way Shorty. Jealousy is such an ugly trait.” Shalltear smirked at Aura.

“Huh? What nonsense are you saying now? Jealous of what?” Aura asked, she was clearly getting flustered.

Amazingly enough, Shalltear’s smirk grew and she said:

“Jealous of when Lord Tempest scolded me, obviously. You can’t hog him for yourself.”

What?!

“What?! What kind of garbage are you saying!?” Aura exploded, her face and ears turning red.

Aura looked at Shalltear, her teeth grinding before she suddenly started smiling. And then—

“Shut up, fake tits.”

— She dropped a bombshell.

Fake tits? What?

“...What the hell are you talking about—!?”

“Well, I guess that was the bombshell needed to destroy the fort known as Shalltear’s composure,” I muttered under my breath as she suddenly gaped at Aura.

Now that Shalltear’s true nature had been revealed, she dropped the cultured act.

“What the hell did you say!?” Shalltear let out an outburst as the character she built up was reduced to rubble.

“Hmph, it’s so obvious — damn, that is one weird chest, how many pads did you stuff in there? It’s disgusting that you think you can seduce Lord Tempest or Lord Momonga with such things!”

“Uwah—uwah—”

Shalltear was waving her hands in panic, as though she could disperse Aura’s words with them, while she had a suitably childish expression on her face. On the other hand, Aura grinned evilly.

I noted that she wasn’t denying what Aura said, which raises further questions.

“If that’s the case, then where did she get them? I’m pretty sure we don’t keep a stock of them.” I questioned silently.

“You packed so much in there… I bet it shifts when you run, right?”

“Kuhii!”

Shalltear made a strange noise and covered her chest as if to protect them from Aura’s words, but then an extended finger poked her.

Clearly this wasn’t working.

“I was right, wasn’t I? Kukuku! Where have they gone—!? So that’s why you didn’t run, even though you were worried, and instead you used a 「Gate」—”

“Shut up, shorty! It’s not like you have anything of your own! At least I… no, I’ve got a lot more to show off!” Shalltear tried desperately to counterattack Aura’s words.

That didn’t work.

Aura simply grinned in the face of Shalltear’s desperate counterattack.

“...I’m only seventy-six, and I’ve got lots of time to develop, unlike an undead with no future like you. Ah, how sad — you will never grow again~”

I’m sorry, what? Aura’s 76? But that would mean Mare’s also 76.

“76” I whispered to Momonga as Shalltear and Aura kept arguing.

“Aura and Mare are both 76-years-old, but they’re like children among other Elves due to their long lifespans,” Momonga whispered back to me as we both watched the fight before us.

“Makes sense.” I accepted that easily enough. It wasn’t the weirdest thing that happened today.

That would be Shalltear’s ‘flirting’, but I preferred not to think about it.

Shalltear moaned in frustration and took another step back. There was a desperate, harried look on her face, which only made Aura smile in a frightening manner.

“To think you’re actually happy with that bust of yours — hmph!”

I imagined I could hear Shalltear snapping.

“You shitty brat—! It’s too late to regret your words now—!”

Roiling black mist boiled off Shalltear’s hands. Aura readied her whip in anticipation. Me, Momonga and Mare, watching from the side, were at a loss for words.

The scene before my eyes was vaguely familiar, and I wondered if we should stop them.

Peroroncino, who designed Shalltear, and Bukubukuchagama, who designed Aura and Mare, were younger brother and elder sister, and at times they would argue in a friendly manner, like what was happening now.

I recalled the forms of my former comrades as I stood behind the quarreling pair.

“You know,” I whispered to Momo, “This reminds me of when Peroroncino and Bukubukuchagama fought.”

“Agreed. It brings back memories of when they fought, but do you think we should stop them?” Momonga asked me quietly.

Before I could respond, I felt something in the air. A chill that wasn’t there before.

“What. A. Ruckus.”

The inhuman voice came just as I was about to answer Momonga. The strange, monotonous voice finally silenced Shalltear and Aura.

As I turned to look at the voice’s origin, I saw a heteromorphic being shrouded in chilled air.

It stood two and a half meters tall and resembled a bipedal insect. It looked like some fiend had melded a praying mantis and an ant together. It had a tail that was twice as long as its body, and it was covered in sharp spikes which resembled icicles. Its powerful-looking mandibles looked like they could sever a man’s arm in a single bite.

It grasped a platinum halberd in two of its hands, and in its other two hands were a masterfully-made mace wreathed in a black aura, and a gnarled-looking broadsword which did not look like it could be sheathed.

It was surrounded by a frightening aura of cold. Its exoskeleton was a dull blue color and sparkled like diamond dust. Protrusions which looked like icebergs bulged up from its back and shoulders.

He was the Guardian of the Fifth Floor, the "Ruler of Glaciers", Cocytus.

The hilt of his halberd slammed into the arena floor, and the ground around it began to freeze.

“You. Stand. Before. The. Supreme. Beings. Contain. Yourselves.” Cocytus said in the same monotone voice, but with a hint of anger and irritation in it.

“This brat started it!”

“Actually—”

“Awawawa…”

Shalltear and Aura locked gazes, while Mare panicked from the side. I could not take this any longer.

I brought my hands together in a thunderous clap that echoed throughout the entire floor, causing everyone to jump and look at me. I curtly addressed Aura and Mare.

“...Shalltear, Aura! That’s enough. If Cocytus is here, then Albedo, Demiurge, Lucifer, Belle, and Toro will be here soon.” I informed them.

“Yes, that’s enough! Playtime is over, you two. Momonga backed me up.

The two of them shuddered in shock, then lowered their heads to us simultaneously.

“My sincerest apologies!” they said in unison.

“Apologies accepted.” I said with a smile while Momonga magnanimously accepted their apologies with a nod. Then, he turned and said:

“Cocytus, you’ve come.”

“I. Came. Immediately. Upon. Receiving. Your. Summons. Momonga-sama.”

The water in the air froze with a crackling sound as it contacted the white vapor puffing out of Cocytus’s mouth as he spoke. This cold was every bit as frigid as the Primal Fire Elemental was hot. Anyone standing near him would suffer the effects of the lowered temperature, and they might even sustain frostbite. However, me and Momonga did not feel anything. The fact was that everyone here was resistant to fire, cold, and acid attacks, or had some way to deal with them.

If I remember correctly, Cocytus and I are actually similar in terms of build, but he focused more on the martial aspects than the magical, while I split my focus between the two.

And the obvious difference between air and ice.

For some strange reason, I felt the fires of competition rise up inside of me when I saw him, but I have no idea why.

Oh, whatever. Probably not important.

“Cocytus my friend, it’s always good to see you. Keeping busy?” I said to the giant warrior in a good-natured way.

“Indeed. Lord. Tempest,” His mandibles click but I couldn’t help but assume he was chuckling, “Though. No. Invaders. Have. Appeared. I’ve. Been. Training. In. Case.”

“You must have been working very hard for the sake of Nazarick. Thank you, Cocytus.” Momonga said gratefully.

“The. Task. Is. Never. Tiring. With. Both. Of. Your. Praise,” Cocytus bowed his head to us.

Although it was not too obvious from his appearance, Cocytus was designed to be the quintessential warrior, be it in personality or body. Therefore, from the perspective of a weapon user, his attacks were the strongest in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.

“I just want you to know that all your hard work is appreciated Cocytus and if you need someone to spar with. Just know I’m always available.” I told him.

“That. Would. Be. Glorious. Lord. Tempest. Serving. The. Supreme. Beings. Is. My. Honor. And. Privilege.” Cocytus looked up from his bowing “I. See. Demiurge. And. Albedo. Have. Arrived.”

We turned in the direction Cocytus was looking, at the entrance of the Colosseum, where we saw two figures enter. The one in front was Albedo, while a man followed behind her like a lackey. Once she got close enough, Albedo smiled to Momonga and bowed deeply.

The man bowed and said, “Forgive me for keeping everyone waiting.”

He was about one hundred eighty centimeters tall, and his skin was darkened from the sun. His facial features looked to be Oriental, while his jet-black hair was neatly combed back. The eyes under his pince-nez glasses could not even be said to be narrowed. It was doubtful whether they were actually open at all.

He was dressed in a Western suit, with a matching tie. He gave the impression of being a professional businessman, or a skilled lawyer.

However, his gentlemanly appearance was hard-pressed to hide the evil air about him. A tail sheathed in silvery metal extended behind him, tipped by six sharp spikes. He was limned by flickering black flames.

This man was the "Creator of Blazing Inferno", Demiurge.

He was the Guardian of the Seventh Floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. This demon was designed to be the defense commander of the NPCs.

He practically screamed, “Getting away from me if your value your life!”

“It seems everyone is here. Are we missing anyone?” I asked, looking at everyone gathered around us.

“—Lord Tempest, Lord Momonga, there are two more people who have not yet arrived,” said a resonant voice that seemed to pour into one’s heart.

Demiurge’s words were empowered by a passive skill. This skill was called 「Command Mantra」, and it could instantly turn the weak-minded into puppets dancing on Demiurge’s strings.

However, this skill had no effect on the people present. It was only useful on people below level 40, so to everyone here, it simply sounded good.

“No. Those two Guardians are only to be moved under special circumstances. Therefore, there is no need to call them over at the moment.” Momonga said.

“I see.” I said.

“...My. Allies. Have. Not. Arrived. Yet.”

Aura and Shalltear froze as they heard those words, and the smile froze on Albedo’s face.

“Allies?” I said out loud before I realized what he was talking about, “Oh, you meant the Area Guardians.”

“Yes. Lord. Tempest.”

“Interesting…” It would help if everyone knew what was happening but having all the residents come here would just take too much time.

“...That, that fellow is just an Area Guardian in one of the floors which I… which we are in charge of.”

“Y-Yes…”

Shalltear and Aura smiled stiffly, while Albedo nodded vigorously in agreement.

“...Kyouhukou, is it. Indeed, it would be good to inform the various Area Guardians. Then, let the Area Guardians like Guren and Grant know about it as well. I will leave that task to the various Floor Guardians.”

There were two kinds of Guardians in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.

Floor Guardians, like the ones before us at the moment, were responsible for one or more floors. Area Guardians were responsible for an individual area within a floor. Simply put, the Floor Guardians were in charge of the Area Guardians, who were in turn in charge of a specific domain. Since there were many of them, they were individually not very important. In Nazarick, the term Guardian usually referred to a Floor Guardian.

“It would take far too much time for all the Area Guardians to get here, so all the Floor Guardians should relay what is said here to their respective floors.” I suggested.

For some reason, when I offered that suggestion everyone, except for the twins and Albedo, looked at me in surprise.

“Did I say something wrong?” I worried.

Nodding, Momonga said, “Tempest is correct. Relay information to your respective floors and Area Guardians.”

It seemed that Momonga’s words brought them back to attention. After the various Floor Guardians showed that they understood Momonga’s orders, Albedo commanded:

“Then, everyone, let us pledge our loyalty to the Supreme Ones.”

Oh god. This looked serious.

All the Guardians nodded as one, and before we could interrupt, they had lined up before us. Albedo stood at their head, while the other Guardians formed a line behind her. All the Guardians had solemn, respectful expressions. They showed no sign of playing around.

Shalltear, who stood on one end of the line, stepped forward:

“Shalltear Bloodfallen, Guardian of the First, Second and Third Floors, presents herself to the Masters.”

She went to one knee, one hand pressed against her chest, and bowed deeply. After that, Cocytus stepped forward and said:

“Cocytus. Guardian. Of. The. Fifth. Floor. Presents. Himself. To. The. Masters.”

Much like Shalltear had, he knelt before Momonga like a vassal before a lord. Then, it was the twin Dark Elves’ turn:

“The Guardian of the Sixth Floor, Aura Bella Fiora, presents herself to the Masters.”

“Al-Also a Guardian of the Sixth Floor, Mare Bello Fiore, presents himself to the Masters.”

They knelt respectfully and lowered their heads to us. Shalltear, Cocytus, Aura, and Mare all had different bodies and thus they should have each taken their steps forward differently. Yet, the way with which they knelt was identical, and they lined up neatly.

After that, Demiurge advanced in a dignified manner.

“The Guardian of the Seventh Floor, Demiurge, presents himself to the Masters.”

Following his crisp words, Demiurge went to one knee in a graceful descent, as though expressing his heart through his actions. Finally, Albedo stepped forward as well.

“The Guardian Overseer Albedo presents herself to the Masters.”

She smiled to us and knelt like the other Guardians. However, Albedo continued speaking in a high and clear voice as she delivered her report.

“With the exception of the Fourth Floor Guardian Gargantua and the Eighth Floor Guardian Victim, all the Floor Guardians are gathered before you. Thus, do we offer up our utmost loyalty to the Masters.”

We had never seen anything like this before in our lives. In our confusion, I activated my [Dragonic Presence V] skill while Momonga activated his [Despair Aura V]. A strange pressure veiled the entire area, and perhaps only we could bear the painful, crushing air. A dreadful aura roiled out over the surroundings, and a halo of black radiance formed behind Momonga.

My skill had no aura or halo effect like Momonga’s [Despair Aura V] skill but it didn’t it.

[Dragonic Presence V] is an AoE much like [Despair Aura V] and they served the same purpose of crowd control, but they differ in how they do it.

[Despair Aura V] had a myriad of effects and debuffs, like Fear, Insanity or even Instant Death as befitting an Overlord of Death.

[Dragonic Presence V] could do the same thing but while it caused Fear it was more like it initiated a person’s flight or fight instinct. A Dragon is, above all, an apex predator and what can prey do before a predator besides fight or flee?

Under the combined weight of [Dragonic Presence V] and [Despair Aura V], the Floor Guardians started trembling and Aura and Mare were sweating.

We had no time to cancel our skills as I frantically racked my brains to recall a scene from movies or television which would tell me how to respond appropriately here.

“Raise your heads.” I said with a serious tone.

With a sha, everyone raised their heads. Their coordination was so immaculate that I wondered if they had practiced that movement together.

“Then… first, I thank all of you for coming here.” Momonga congratulated them.

“There is no need for thanks. We are all the Supreme Being’s loyal subordinates. To us, Lord Momonga is our Supreme Overlord and Lord Tempest is the always vigilant champion of Nazarick.”

None of the Guardians opposed her statement. As expected of the Guardian Overseer.

Momonga looked on the Guardians with a stern face, and he felt a choking sensation in his nonexistent throat. It was the weight of being a leader bearing down on him.

In addition, any orders we gave now would affect our relationship with them in the future. I could not help but hesitate as he contemplated the possibilities.

Would we lead the Great Tomb of Nazarick to destruction because of our decisions — the unease generated by that thought flooded my heart and mind.

“...Supreme Ones, it is only natural that you should have doubts about us. After all, our abilities must be miniscule in your reckoning.”

Albedo removed the smile from her face and continue in a respectful tone that was laced with a stern strength.

“However, if the Supreme Ones give the order, we — all the Guardians will accomplish any task set to us, no matter how difficult or arduous, with every fiber of our beings. We hereby swear that we will never allow the Forty-One Supreme Beings of Ainz Ooal Gown, our creators, to be disgraced by our actions.”

“This we swear!”

“Holy Shit!” I exclaimed.

The Floor Guardians chimed in right after Albedo. Their voices were filled with power, and that adamant loyalty and determination would not be diminished by any number of foes. It was as though they were mocking my previous worries that the NPCs might betray us.

The darkness in my heart vanished like shadows in the morning sun. I was moved to the bottom of my heart that the NPCs designed by the members of Ainz Ooal Gown were possessed by such excellence and unbreakable loyalty.

And I was rarely moved.

The golden radiance of the past still remained.

The embodiment of everyone’s hard work, their cunningly crafted creations, were still here. It filled me with joy.

I smiled. My prior unease seemed dumb, and Momonga spoke the words expected of a guild master:

“Excellent. Guardians, I know that you will understand our aims and successfully carry out our commands. There may be some things which are difficult to understand, but I hope you will pay attention and listen. I believe the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick has been caught up in some kind of unknown situation.”

The Guardians’ faces were still stern, and there was no trace of surprise on them.

“Although I do not know what has caused this incident, the Great Tomb of Nazarick has been transported from its place in the swamps to a vast plain. Did anyone foresee the occurrence of this strange event?”

Albedo looked back at the Guardians, and after seeing the reply written on their face, she said:

“Regretfully, none of us have any idea of what is going on.”

“Then, I have a question for the Floor Guardians. Have any of you discovered anything strange in your floors?”

After hearing this, each Floor Guardian responded:

“There are no abnormalities in the Seventh Floor.”

“Same with the Sixth Floor.”

“I-It’s as Nee-chan says.”

“The. Fifth. Floor. Is. The. Same.”

“Nothing strange has been sighted in the First to Third Floors.”

“—Momonga-sama, Tempest-sama, I shall investigate the Fourth and Eighth Floors right away.” Albedo said.

“Then I will leave that matter to Albedo. However, you must be careful on the Eighth Floor. If an emergency situation occurs there, a situation may emerge that you cannot deal with.”

Albedo bowed her head deeply to indicate she understood, and then Shalltear said:

“Then, I shall handle matters on the surface.”

“There is no need. Sebas is currently reconnoitering the surface.”

Surprise flashed across the faces of Albedo and the other Guardians.

In the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, there were five NPCs who were exponents of melee combat. Cocytus had the strongest attack power when using a weapon, Albedo had an impregnable defense when in her heavy armor. My own NPC Toro specialized in both offense and defense due to possessing levels in various Monk and Fighter classes, while Sebas in his true form was stronger than either Cocytus and Albedo in melee combat as well as a match for Toro in his true Minotaur form. And then was one more, who was superior to all of them.

There could be no other reason for the Guardians’ surprise. Sebas, who could sweep away anyone before him in hand-to-hand combat, had been assigned to the simple task of reconnaissance. They could tell how seriously Momonga was taking this strange occurrence, and everyone was on their guard as a result.

“It’s about time for Sebas, Belle, Heretic, Lucifer, and Toro to return.” I said.

Just then, we saw Sebas and my NPCs jogging over to us, until they reached the Guardians genuflecting before us and went to one knee as well.

“Momonga-sama, Tempest-sama, forgive our lateness.” Sebas said.

“Indeed. Forgive our lateness Supreme Ones. I was finishing my patrol in the first three floors,” Belle von Bane, Tempest’s creation, said in a sophisticated yet stuck-up tone.

“Apologies for not arriving sooner Masters.” Heretic, another one of Tempest’s creations, said in an emotionless and bored voice.

“Yeah! Sorry we’re late great ones! I got lost on my way over here” Lucifer Shadows, another one of my personal NPCs, said in a cheerful and energetic tone.

“Please forgive these foolish servants for their lateness Supreme Ones. I was busy making sure my creator’s room was in order.” Toro, Tempest’s final NPC, said in a deep, masculine voice.

Belle von Bane, Lucifer Shadows, Heretic, and Toro were created by me.

They weren’t Floor Guardians or part of Nazarick defenses. We’ll, Heretic and Toro weren’t. I stationed Belle on the first three floors of the Great Tomb of Nazarick to help Shalltear patrol them, Lucifer was stationed on the 8th floor to help Victim and Aureole Omega guard it, Heretic was stationed in a medical office in the 6th floor right here, and Toro was put in my room to act as my personal butler.

I created them from in-game store items.

I had to beg my parents for my allowance in-advance because they were expensive to make.

Belle was a Doppelgänger NPC who specialized in shapeshifting and utility. She is the second NPC I ever created. I also gave her a few levels in cooking so she could help Sous-chef in the Restaurant of Nazarick. With her racial abilities, she can assume any form she wants but she primarily takes the appearance of an unnaturally beautiful young girl with pale skin who is around 14 years old. In her preferred form, Belle is of short stature as she is as tall as Shalltear Bloodfallen because her height is 140cm. Belle has combed white hair that goes down to her back and has bright purple eyes. She wears a black evening gown that covers her lower body as well as black flat sandals and has perfectly manicured nails. Belle has a bust size that rivals Albedo’s and carries a black Japanese folding hand fan in her right hand while she carries a black lace parasol in her left hand. Belle can use glamour magic to hide her fangs in order to appear as a human while in public. In her true form, Belle appears as a humanoid with thin 4 claw-like fingers on each hand, but her face resembles that of an egg with three holes in the place of her mouth and eyes.

Lucifer was a Fallen Angel NPC who could cast holy magic, summon angels, and use melee weapons. Filo from “The Rising of the Shield Hero” was the inspiration for her design. Lucifer Shadows appears as a beautiful young Caucasian girl with long blonde hair who wears a beautiful white ruffle dress that goes down to her knees and always walks around barefoot. The most interesting thing about her outfit is the golden symbol on the chest. The symbol is a skull’s head, from behind it come three spears. Her blonde hair reaches down to her lower back and is done in an angel ponytail. Her azure eyes glow like stars. Her youthful face gives off the impression that she is around 8 years old. She is 92cm tall. From her back, there are a pair of two grey angel-like wings, each only about 12 inches long and thus too small to allow flight, but with four of them it is possible for her. The reason for the color of her wings is that she is a fallen angel. She can use glamour magic to hide her wings and make her eyes appear regular in order to appear as a normal human in public. In her true Fallen Angel form she is 182cm, wears a black ball gown made of black feathers, has 3 pairs of black wings that are 36 inches, and has a bust size that matches Solution Epsilon’s.

Heretic was an Automaton NPC just like Shizu. He specialized in assassination, scouting, and long-range support. I modeled his appearance after Ciel Phantomhive from “Black Butler” but with some visual differences. Heretic is a short 12-year-old looking Caucasian boy with black hair styled after Ciel Phantomhive from the anime “Black Butler.” He wears a typical butler uniform with black dress shoes, white socks, white gloves, black dress pants, white dress shirt, two golden buttoned black butler vest, navy blue string tie, black trench coat, black flat cap, and black scarf. He wears a black eyepatch over his left eye while his right eye has a dark green color and bullseye-mark on the pupil. He has an aquamarine-colored tear-drop shaped tattoo under his right eye. He is 122cm tall.

Toro was a Minotaur NPC and my personal butler, he is a Monk-type fighter like Sebas. In his true form, he has the appearance of a very muscular anthropomorphic bull with bright crimson red skin that walks on his hind legs and wears enchanted thick spiked black armor. He has a mass of white hair on his head to match his white goat beard along with his white eyebrows. He wears a steel nose ring, a steel collar, and a pair of enchanted steel spike bracelets on each arm. His upper body is more simian than human. His upper body is covered in black fur, except his arms and face, which are bright crimson red. Toro’s lower body is covered in black fur, with white cloven hooves, and a white bull tail. Toro has jet black eyes with yellow pupils, a bull-like shaped face, and a pair of long sharp curved black bull horns. In his Minotaur form, Toro is 2.6m tall (excluding tail); Toro is noted to be larger than an average Minotaur. Toro can use glamour magic to disguise himself as a muscular middle-aged African-American adult human male with amber eyes, nicely combed white hair, and a fine white beard who wears a black business suit along with a white dress shirt underneath his suit, white cotton gloves, black bow tie, and black dress shoes. In human form, Toro stands at 274cm.

“I take no offense. I’m just glad to see that all my creations are safe and sound.” I said in a sincere tone.

“It’s fine. Then, your report on the surrounding conditions,” said Momonga.

Sebas raised his head and looked around at the Guardians and NPCs kneeling beside him.

“...The situation is critical, so obviously the Floor Guardians need to know as well.”

“Yes. To begin with, the terrain surrounding us for a kilometer in each direction is a plain. There are no signs of man-made structures. I spotted some small animals, but there were no humanoid or large creatures.”

“Were those small animals’ monsters?” I asked.

“No, they were life forms which had no combat power.”

“...I see. Then, were the plains you spoke of covered in frozen grass which would cut you as you passed them?”

“No, it was simple grass. There was nothing special about it.”

“And you did not see any sky castles or similar buildings?”

“No, I did not. There was no sign of man-made illumination in the sky or on the land.”

“Indeed. Heretic, please confirm for us what Sebas said.” I asked my Automaton NPC.

“I can confirm that Sebas speaks the truth Lord Tempest. There are no intelligent or high-level fleshlings in the area and his description of the surrounding environment was quite accurate.”

He spoke like this because I wrote it into his character description.

Heretic always spoke in a bored but professional monotone like a machine and referred to organics as “fleshlings,” “vermin,” “squishies,” “meat bags,” and “parasites.”

I got this idea from the Transformers series where the Decepticon scientist Shockwave had a low opinion on organic beings. I designed Heretic to finish his opponents off quickly in the most effective way possible, so he wouldn’t waste time playing games with them.

And he’s not picking about how he kills them. Guns, knives, poisons, etc.

One of Heretic’s special abilities was self-destruct. Before he dies, he teleports to his opponents and activates his self-destruct device that’s implemented in his body. Causing great damage to with it to his enemies.

“I see, so there was only a starry sky… Thank you both for your hard work.”

As Momonga praised Sebas and Heretic for their efforts, I was somewhat disappointed because they had not obtained any useful information.

However, I was slowly realizing that we were no longer in the game world of YGGDRASIL, although I did not understand why we could use YGGDRASIL’s equipment and use its spells.

I did not know why they had come here, but it would be wise to heighten Nazarick’s combat readiness just in case. For all I knew, this might be someone else’s territory, and we might be censured for having come here without permission. No, we would be lucky if that was all that happened.

Momonga then told the NPCs:

“Guardians increase the readiness of each floor by one level. We are unsure of what has happened, so do not act incautiously. If you encounter an intruder, do not slay them, but capture them alive at all costs. When you capture them, do as little harm to them as possible. I apologize for imposing such demands on all of you at a time like this.”

The Guardians voiced their acknowledgement and nodded in unison.

“Next, I would like to understand the administrative operations of the Tomb. Albedo, how is the exchange of security information between the Guardians of the various floors?”

In YGGDRASIL, the Guardians were simple NPCs, and they could only act according to their programs. There was no way the floors would exchange security information and monsters.

“Each Floor is administered by its respective Floor Guardian, but Demiurge is the overall defense commander, and everyone can share information with him.”

I was a bit surprised, but then I saw Momonga nod in satisfaction.

“Excellent. Nazarick’s defense commander, Demiurge. Guardian Overseer, Albedo. Belle von Bane. The three of you will be in charge of drawing up a more comprehensive administrative system for Nazarick.”

“Understood. Will the plans for the management system include the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth floors?”

“The Eighth Floor is managed by Victim, so it’ll be fine. No, entry to the Eighth Floor is forbidden. I rescind the order I just gave to Albedo as well. In short, entry to the Eighth Floor will only be affected with my permission. I will undo the seal and permit direct access from the Seventh Floor to the Ninth Floor. After that, plan for the Ninth and Tenth Floor as one whole.”

“Is, is that your will?”

Albedo seemed quite surprised. Behind her, Demiurge’s and Belle’s eyes went wide, revealing their thoughts on the matter.

“Will the underlings be allowed to tramp through the domain of the Supreme Beings? Must they be given that much freedom?”

The underlings in question were not the NPCs and monsters designed by the members of Ainz Ooal Gown, but the automatically spawned (pop) monsters from the dungeon. The fact was that the Ninth and Tenth Floor lacked such monsters, barring very rare exceptions.

Momonga muttered to himself.

Albedo seemed to regard that place as a holy sanctuary, but that was not the case.

The reason why there were no pop monsters on the Ninth Floor was simply because if any intruders could overcome the NPC defenders of the Eighth Floor, the most powerful beings in the Tomb, then Ainz Ooal Gown’s chances of victory would be slim. Thus, it would be better to play the role of a villain to the hilt and meet the invaders in the throne room for a final showdown.

“...It will be fine. Because it’s an emergency, we need extra hands for security.”

“Understood. I shall select only the finest and most potent troops for this duty.”

Momonga nodded and looked toward the twins.

“Aura and Mare… can you conceal the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick? Simple illusions don’t seem very reliable and thinking about the cost of illusions gives me a headache.”

Aura and Mare looked at each other and began thinking. After a while, Mare spoke up:

“U-Using magic might be tricky. If we had to hide everything along with the surface… although, we could cover the walls in mud, and then add plants as camouflage.”

“Do you intend to soil the glorious walls of Nazarick with base dirt?”

Albedo said that with her back turned to Mare. Although her voice was sweet and velvet, the tone it carried was anything but.

Mare’s shoulders trembled, and although the surrounding Guardians remained silent, their attitudes suggested that they shared Albedo’s opinion.

In contrast, I felt Albedo was being too much of a busybody. The situation was hardly serious enough to warrant such a reaction. Also, the twins were just trying to help.

“Albedo… don’t speak out of turn. Momonga was addressing Mare. Not you.” I said with a growl.

My voice was so deep that it surprised me.

“Ah, my deepest apologies, Tempest-sama!”

Albedo’s head was as low as it could go, and her face was frozen in fear. The Guardians, Sebas, Belle, Toro, Lucifer, and Heretic stiffened up as well. Perhaps they thought that scolding was directed at them as well.

A twinge of remorse struck me as I observed the quick change in the Guardians’ attitude, but Momonga continued speaking to Mare:

“Can you conceal the walls by heaping dirt onto them?”

“Yes, yes, I can, if the Supreme Beings allow it … However,”

“Yes, an observer from a distance would think the ground was bulging up unnaturally. Sebas, are there any nearby hills or the like?”

“There are none. Regretfully, we are surrounded by flatlands. However, since there are nights here, we should be able to perform some sort of eye-deceiving camouflage while the sun is down.”

“Sebas’ statement is true, Lord Momonga.” Heretic said, supporting Sebas.

“Is that so… if all we intend to do is hide the walls, Mare’s idea will be enough. Then, what if we piled up the dirt from the nearby land to make dummy hills as camouflage?”

“Then we would blend in.”

“Very well. I shall assign Aura and Mare to carry out this task together. While doing so, you may draw the necessary supplies from each Floor. Since we cannot camouflage the view from the air, we shall use illusions after finishing the earthworks, so nobody will be able to detect Nazarick from the outside.”

“Y-Yes. U-Understood.”

That must’ve been all he could think of at the moment. There were probably a lot of holes left in the plan, but that could be dealt with slowly, later on. After all, it had only been a few hours since all this had happened.

“Then, you are dismissed for today. Everyone take a break before beginning your duties. There are many things we do not know, so do not push yourselves too hard.”

“Yes. Please enjoy yourselves.” I wanted them to avoid getting stressed from all the work they were about to do.

The Guardians nodded as one to show that they understood.

“Finally, I have a question for the Guardians. To begin with, Shalltear — what are me and Tempest to you?”

“An incarnation of beauty. You are the most beautiful person in the world. Even jewels pale in comparison to your snow-white body Lord Momonga.”

Shalltear did not pause to think about her answer before she gave it. From the lack of delay in her reply, she must have been speaking from the heart.

“Indeed. What about Tempest?”

The look on Shalltear’s face contorted into an uncomfortable expression and she hesitated to speak out loud sot Momonga soothed her worries.

“Worry not, Shalltear. You won’t be judged or punished for your words. Simply speak the truth.”

“Lord Momonga.” She bowed her head in obedience, “Lord Tempest matches your beauty, but he is more rugged, dangerous and his , yellow scales that surpass even the most dazzling gold coins.”

“Oh god! What have I gotten into?!” I internally panicked.

Momonga looked at me. I assumed he was expressing pity toward me because he can’t make any facial expressions.

Then we turned back to the Guardians.

“—Cocytus.”

“You. And. Lord. Tempest. Are. Mightier. Than. All. The. Guardians. And. You. Are. Most. Deserving. Of. The. Title. Of. The. Supreme. Overlord. Of. The. Great. Underground. Tomb. Of. Nazarick. I. Would. Like. To. Cross. Blades. With. Lord. Tempest. One. Day”

“—Aura.”

“A merciful leader with great foresight and Lord Tempest is a mighty warrior with powerful magic.”

“—Mare.”

“A, a very gentle person along with Lord Tempest.”

“—Demiurge.”

“A wise leader who makes decisions and acts on them quickly. Lord Tempest is the only one who understands any plans that you make before anyone else and makes sure they play out as they should. Truly, both of you are worthy of the title ‘inscrutable.’”

“—Sebas.”

“The one responsible for assembling all the Supreme Beings, along with Lord Tempest. In addition, the merciful leader and his closest friend who did not abandon us but stayed by our side until the very end. As a Dragonoid, I have nothing but respect and admiration for Lord Tempest for ascending to a full-fledged Dragon and choosing to stay with Nazarick to the very end.”

I was impressed by how much emotion my fellow Dragonoid showed for me, but I shouldn’t be surprised. I achieved something no one else did and became a Dragon in YGGDRASIL.

It’s a pity I had to give up my [World Champion] Job Class for it though.

“—Belle von Bane.”

“The unquestioned ruler of the 41 Supreme Beings who is by orders of magnitude better than the vermin outside. And besides him is my creator, who I will always be grateful to for creating me and my siblings.” Belle said with a hint of passion.

Nice to know she has a high opinion of me.

“—Lucifer Shadows.”

“The mightiest undead of all times! And Lord Tempest is my god!” Lucifer said excitedly.

“—Heretic.”

“A brilliant strategist whose intellect surpasses all, except for my creator. Lord Tempest is my great leader.”

“—Toro.”

“A benevolent leader whose is a good friend and loyal comrade of my creator. For that, you have my undying respect. And Lord Tempest will always have my dedication and loyalty for creating me.”

“And finally, Albedo.”

“The man who rules over the Supreme Beings, and our highest, most exalted master. In addition, the man I love most deeply, and Lord Tempest is the Supreme Being who stayed behind when no one else would.”

“It was as we feared. I was right, Albedo is in love with Momonga because of what we did.” I confirmed much to my dissatisfaction.

“...I see. We have heard and understand your opinions. Then, we shall hand the tasks that were once performed by our former comrades to you. Carry them out faithfully.”

After seeing the Guardians genuflect once more, me and Momonga teleported away.

The scenery before our eyes changed in an instant, from the Colosseum to the chamber of the Golems of Lemegeton. After he looked around to make sure nobody was looking, I saw Momonga sigh deeply.

“I’m so tired…”

Although his undead body did not feel tired, the mental fatigue must have been weighing down on his shoulders.

“No pressure, right Momo?” I asked in an attempt to cheer him up.

“...Indeed. Those guys… why do they think so highly of us?”

That was a good question. Back at the coliseum it sounded like they were describing two other people entirely. After hearing the Guardians take turns to share their opinions of us, I wanted to laugh and mock them, but from the looks on their faces, it did not sound like they were joking at all.

In other words, they were being sincere.

If we did not act in a manner which fit their views of us, it might disappoint them.

I shook my head, “It could be for a number of reasons. Maybe they feel betrayed and lost without their creators and they’re trying to latch onto the nearest source of comfort. In my opinion, they seem like children who need someone to guide them and hold their hands while they’re trapped in a cruel, unforgiving world.”

Momonga looked at me in surprise, “That sounded very philosophical of you Donny.”

I smirked, “Well, I did take philosophy in college.”

“Maybe your right though. The worst feeling you can have is thinking you’re alone and the ones who you thought you can trust betrayed your trust.”

“Unfortunately, we both seem to know that feeling all too well Momo,” I told him with a sad tone.

I definitely knew this feeling all too well.

I was never the most popular kid in school and university. I was always different than other people. Always so shy and withdrawn. I went out of my way to avoid people and they would go out of their way to avoid me.

Sure, some of the kids would try to be nice to me but I didn’t really connect with them.

The closest I ever had to a best friend was my mother. I always looked to her for help and support.

Joining Ainz Ooal Gown gave me the opportunity to come out of my shell and talk to people, even if it was through a computer.

I found real friends in the virtual world and had a great time while adventuring them. So, I wasn’t alone anymore.

“Sad but true.” Momonga replied.

As I thought about my whole situation, the pressure on me grew and grew. And in addition to that, there was another problem, which made me frown.

“What do you think about Albedo being in love you?” I couldn’t resist asking.

Of course, his skeletal face could not show expressions, yet it seemed as though it did.

“...I don’t know. What should I do about Albedo… if this keeps up, how will we face Tabula-san…”?

“Oh, it can’t be helped. I say we go to our rooms Momonga for a while to process everything that’s happened today.”

“Good idea Donny. I’ll [Message] you if anything comes up in the meantime.”

“Ditto Momonga, take care man.”

“You too Tempest.”

Activate item [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown] selecting destination: personal quarters.

We both activated our rings in unison and disappeared.

…

Scene Change: 6th Floor Amphitheater:

The pressure crushing their heads to the ground suddenly vanished.

Even after the departure of the master of their revered creators and the Supreme One who remained with him until the very end, nobody raised their heads. After a while, someone sighed in relief. The tense atmosphere was gone now.

The first to get up was Albedo. Her white dress was stained where her knee had touched the ground, but she did not mind at all. She flapped her wings to swipe off the dirt on her feathers.

After seeing Albedo rise, the others followed suit, though nobody dared to speak.

“That, that was scary, Nee-chan.” Mare said in frightened tone.

“Yeah, I thought I’d be squashed flat.” Aura said, agreeing with her brother.

“As expected of Lord Momonga and Lord Tempest, to think their presence would have such a great effect on us Floor Guardians…”

“As. Supreme. Beings. Their. Might. Overmatches. Ours. But. I. Did. Not. Expect. Them. To. Be. This. Powerful.”

“Then you are a fool to underestimate the powers of gods Cocytus.” Belle said in scolding tone.

“Indeed. It’s only natural for the mighty to show their strength.” Toro said, impressed by the Supreme Ones strength.

“Reminding their inferiors why they’re the leaders is only a logical action.” Heretic stated in his passive but highly-intelligent tone.

“Nobody’s stronger than the Supreme Ones!” Lucifer said in an excited tone.

Thus, the Guardians and NPCs shared their impressions of Momonga and Tempest.

The aura that Momonga and Tempest emitted was the source of the power that had crushed the Guardians to the ground.

「Despair Aura」 and [Dragonic Presence].

Besides inflicting a fear effect, Momonga’s [Despair Aura] could reduce the stats of its victims. Normally, it would not have an effect on the level one hundred NPCs, but on this occasion, its effects had been strengthened by the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.

Tempest’s [Dragonic Presence] mainly caused nearby targets to feel fear and it was almost potent enough to keep up with Momonga’s strengthened [Despair Aura].

“Momonga-sama and Tempest-sama must have unleashed the air of authority that represents Momonga’s right to rule.”

“Indeed. Before we stated our positions, Lord Momonga and Lord Tempest did not exert their might. However, once we showed ourselves in the role of Floor Guardians, they must have revealed a fraction of their awesome power to us.”

“In. Other. Words. Lord. Momonga. Revealed. His. True. Ability. As. A. Ruler. In. Response. To. Our. Pledges. Of. Loyalty. Lord. Tempest. Did. The. Same. But. With. A. Difference. He. Wanted. To. Strengthen. Lord. Momonga’s. Rule. As. A. Champion. Intended. To. Do. For. His. Ruler.”

“That does seem to be the case.”

“He didn’t radiate that aura when he was with us. Momonga-sama was kind and gave us something to drink when we were thirsty.”

“Tempest-sama did the same and gave us candy. But I don’t know how he knew we both love candy, but he just did. He clearly possesses the wisdom expected of a Supreme Being.”

Aura’s and Mare’s words caused the other Guardians to emit an air of tension. It was condensed jealousy that was almost visible to the naked eye. The worst-off was Albedo. Her clenched fists shuddered, and her nails threatened to rip through the fabric of her gloves.

Mare’s shoulders trembled, and then his eyes went wide.

“That, that must have been the true power of Lord Momonga and Lord Tempest, the ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick and his Champion. It was amazing!”

That changed the mood instantly.

“Exactly! Lord Momonga showed us his ability as an absolute ruler in response to our feelings… as expected of our creator. And Lord Tempest showed his worthiness to be Lord Momonga’s companion. The zenith of the Forty-One Supreme Beings, and the kind masters who remained here with us until the very end.”

Albedo’s words put a blissful look on all the Guardians’ faces, although the expression on Mare’s face was better described as "relaxed."

There was nothing which could delight them more than the master who created them, the master to whom they owed their utmost loyalty, revealing his true face to them.

The Guardians, no, every entity created by the Supreme Beings wanted nothing more than to aid their creators in some way. The next best thing would be to receive their trust and to be treated as useful servants.

This was a simple, natural truth.

This was the greatest joy in life for these characters who were created to aid the Supreme Beings.

Belle, Toro, Heretic, and Lucifer in particular were overjoyed that their creator stayed with him. And now they can serve him until their final breaths as they were created to.

Then, as though to wipe away this jubilant atmosphere, Sebas said from the side:

“Then, I shall take my leave first. I do not know where Lord Momonga has gone, but I should stay by his side.”

Jealousy was written all over Albedo’s face, but she quashed her feelings and replied:

“I understand. Then, Sebas, serve Lord Momonga well and do not disgrace him. Report to me if anything happens. In particular, if Lord Momonga summons me, you must let me know immediately. Everything else is of secondary importance to that!”

A pained expression crossed Belle’s and Demiurge’s face as they listened quietly from the side.

“But if he desires me in his bedchamber, you must inform Lord Momonga that I might take some time, in order to bathe and cleanse myself for him. Of course, if he wants me to proceed to him immediately, that is fine as well. After all, I do my best to keep clean for him, and my clothes have already been selected so I can heed his call whenever it comes. In any case, Lord Momonga’s wishes will always come first—”

“—I understand, Albedo. If I waste too much time here, I will not have enough to properly serve Momonga-sama, which would be disrespectful. Therefore, forgive my abrupt departure, but I must take my leave. Floor Guardians, I bid you all a good day.”

After saying his farewells to the wide-eyed and open-mouthed Guardians, Sebas immediately jogged away, as though to leave Albedo (who was preparing for a long monologue) behind.

“Speaking of which… it is fairly quiet around here. Shalltear, is something the matter?”

After Demiurge’s question, everyone’s eyes went to Shalltear. She was still on her knees.

“What. Is. Wrong. Shalltear?”

She lifted her head after she was called on again. The dazed look on her face would make people think that she had just been woken up.

“...What. Happened?”

“Ah, after being exposed to the Supreme Beings awesome presence, I could not help but get excited… I fear my underwear has gone through a bit of a crisis…”

Silence.

Everyone looked at each other, unsure of what to say. The Guardians mused that Shalltear had, by far, the most fetishes among them, and that two-of said fetishes was necrophilia and zoophilia. They facepalmed as they thought about this, although Mare and Lucifer didn’t quite get it and were thoroughly confused. Belle, however, had a disgusted look on her face. No, one of the Guardians was not content to simply shake her head and sigh.

That was Albedo.

The jealousy surging in her made Albedo come out and say:

“You disgusting slut.”

Shalltear sensed Albedo’s hostility as she heard those scornful words. Her lips curled in hostility, and she responded with a bewitching smile.

“What? Having Lord Momonga and Lord Tempest, the most beautiful of the Supreme Beings, bless us with their energy is a reward! Anyone who doesn’t get wet from that must have something wrong in their head! Or could it be that you don’t just look pure, but you don’t have any fleshly desires at all, you big-mouthed idiotic gorilla!?”

“...Keep flapping those fangs lamprey! See where it gets you”

The two of them glared at each other. The Guardians did not know if they would fight as a result of this, but the way they were looking at each other was very unsettling.

“My appearance was created by the Supreme Beings; are you unhappy with it?”

“Shouldn’t that be my line?”

Shalltear slowly stood back up, and the two of them approached each other. Even so, their eyes remained locked. Eventually, the two of them came so close that they collided into each other.

“Don’t think you’ve won just because you’re the Guardian Overseer and can stay next to Momonga-sama. If you really think that way, I’ll laugh my ass off.”

“Hmph. That’s correct. While you’re stationed in a faraway place, I’ll swoop in and achieve a complete victory. Besides, I’m only interested in Lord Momonga. Lord Tempest can be yours.”

“...What do you mean by ‘a complete victory?’ Teach me, Guardian Overseer-sama.” Shalltear said in a mocking voice that also sounded sarcastic.

“As a slut, you should be fully aware of what that means.”

Throughout their trade of verbal barbs, neither of them had turned their gaze from each other. They simply looked into each other’s eyes with a blank expression on their faces.

With a pacha, Albedo unfurled her wings in a threat display. Black mist wreathed Shalltear as she responded in kind, unwilling to admit weakness.

“Ah — Aura, Belle, Lucifer, matters between women should be settled by fellow women. If anything happens, I’ll come to help, let me know when the time comes, all right?”

“Hey, wait, Demiurge! Are you planning to dump all of this on us?”

“Thank you for support Demiurge. You damn coward.” Belle muttered under breath, she was not in the mood to deal with Albedo and Shalltear’s childish rivalry.

‘I don’t get.” Lucifer said while tilting her head in confusion.

Demiurge simply waved lazily as he walked away from the feuding pair. Toro, Heretic, Cocytus, and Mare took a step back as well. Nobody wanted to get caught between them.

“Goodness. Do. They. Have. To. Argue. Over. This. Sort. Of. Thing?”

“Indeed. This type of behavior from servants of the Supreme Beings is simply disgraceful.” Toro said in a disappointed tone.

“Such behavior is illogical but expected from creatures that are territorial.” Heretic analyzed.

“Personally, I would be quite interested in the result.”

“What do you mean by ‘the result,’ Demiurge?” Mare asked innocently.

“I refer to the increase in our fighting power, the future of Nazarick, and so on.”

“D-Demiurge, what do you mean?” Mare asked.

“Hmm…”

Demiurge pondered how he should answer Mare’s question. For a moment, an evil impulse swept through Demiurge’s head and he thought of infusing the simple Mare with adult knowledge, but he promptly discarded that line of thinking.

Demiurge was a devil, and he was cruel and ruthless, but that only applied to people outside Nazarick. To Demiurge, the characters made by the Forty-One Supreme Beings were his comrades.

“Any great leader requires a successor, no? Momonga-sama may have stayed with us until the end, but if he loses interest in us one day, he may leave for another place like the rest of the Supreme Beings. Thus, there is a need for a successor to whom we can pledge our loyalty.”

“However, Lord Tempest could lead us if the situation requires it, but sooner or later he might decide to leave us too and it’s possible he might never take interest in leading the Great Tomb of Nazarick. He always left that sort of thing to Lord Momonga. Although, I don’t know why since he has the strength and the will to fulfill the job.” Demiurge continued.

“I see. Then, which one of them should give birth to Lord Momonga’s and Lord Tempest’s successor?” Mare asked out of curiosity.

“How. Disrespectful. As. Guardians. We. Are. To. Serve. Lord. Momonga. And. Lord. Tempest. Faithfully. So. They. May. Stay. That. Is. What. We. Were. Made. For.”

“Agreed. If our creator wished to have an offspring, then it will be his choice Demiurge. Wouldn’t you agree Heretic?” Toro asked his older brother who’s standing on his left.

Heretic simply shook his head, “Theoretically, it is inevitable for all organics to reproduce. It is simply in their nature to continue their species. Perhaps Lord Tempest is no different. But I can not help but ponder how Lord Momonga will sire an heir since, as an undead, he is physically incapable of such an action.

Demiurge turned to the interrupting NPCs.

“Of course, I understand that, my friends. But do you not wish to pledge your loyalty to Lord Momonga’s heir or train Lord Tempest’s children.?”

“Hmm… Of. Course. I. Would. Like. To. Swear. My. Allegiance. To. The. Supreme. Beings. Heirs…”

Cocytus began imagining himself running around with said heirs on his shoulders.

Then he began to imagine himself teaching them swordsmanship, drawing his blade to defend the Young Masters, and even hearing the full-grown Young Masters giving him orders.

“...Oh. How. Wonderful. What. A Glorious. Sight… Uncle… Uncle…Cocytus.”

Somewhat unable to bear it, Demiurge averted his eyes from Cocytus, who was fully into imagining himself as a cool old uncle, faithfully serving Momonga’s and Tempest’s heirs.

“Well, that aside, I’m quite interested in knowing what our children can do for the strengthening of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. How about it, Toro, do you want to make a child?” Demiurge turned to Toro as he said this.

“To be honest, I’ve never really had any interest in relationships. All I’ve ever focused on is catering to Lord Tempest’s ever whim, fighting, training, and protecting Nazarick.”

“Understandable… but still though. You should seek a companion if you find any Humans, Minotaurs, Elves, or similar races, can you at least attempt to produce any powerful offspring?” Demiurge said in the form of a request.

“If my master order me to provide a child, I would gladly do so. Although, I can certainly try for his sake at your insistence.” Toro said, at least making an attempt to be cooperative.

“Excellent. What about you Mare? Do you want to make any children?”

“Er, eh?”

“Still, you don’t have a partner… if you discover any Humans, Dark Elves, Wood Elves, or similar species, would you kindly capture them for me?”

“Eh? Ehhhhh?”

After thinking for a bit, Mare nodded and said, “If, if it helps the Supreme Beings... I’m willing to contribute. But how will I have children?”

“Well, I’ll teach you about that when the time comes. But if you decide to try some breeding experiments on your own, the Supreme Being’s might scold you. After all, the operations of Nazarick are perfectly balanced.”

“That, that’s true. I’ve heard that all the underlings were created after careful calculation by one of the Supreme Beings… if we carelessly increase our numbers, we’ll be scolded. I, I don’t want to be scolded by Lord Momonga or Lord Tempest…”

“Of course, I don’t want to be rebuked by the Supreme Beings either… if only I could set up a farm outside Nazarick…”

As Demiurge thought of this, he decided to mention the one thing nobody had teased him about:

“Ah yes, Mare, why are you dressed as a girl?”

Mare grabbed at his miniskirt to hide his legs after Demiurge asked his question.

“This was Bukubukuchagama-sama’s decision. She said this was called a ‘trap,’ so it should have nothing to do with my gender.”

“Oh, so this was Bukubukuchagama-sama’s decision. Well then, those clothes should be fine on you… although, should all boys dress in that way?”

“I, I don’t know about that.”

The Forty-One Supreme Beings were no longer around, but even so, the mention of their names still compelled obedience. Or rather, in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, Mare was dressed as he should be, and nobody apart from another Supreme Being could change his wardrobe.

“...I wonder if I should talk to Lord Momonga and Lord Tempest about this. Perhaps all boys should be dressed like that. I say…”

Heretic looked at Demiurge curiously, “I fear you’re misinterpreting the intentions of the Supreme Ones Demiurge. If they wished for all the males in Nazarick do dress as females, then would they not have dressed him female clothing themselves?” Heretic couldn’t help but point out the flaw in Demiurge’s logic.

Demiurge shook his head.

“As servants we shouldn’t dare to presume that we understand the minds of the Supreme Beings Heretic. Never the less, I won’t know for sure until I try. Cocytus, it’s time to wake up.”

After hearing his colleague’s words, Cocytus shook his head several times, a deeply satisfied smile on his face.

“Ah. What. A. Beautiful. Sight… Truly. it. Was. Everything. I. Have. Ever. Dreamed. Of.”

“Is that so… well then, that’s good....Belle, Aura, Lucifer! Are Albedo and Shalltear still fighting?”

The feuding pair’s eyes were slightly averted. However, the one that answered Demiurge was the tired-looking Aura, standing by the side.

“They’re… done. Right now, they’re arguing about…”

“The problem of who should be the first wife.”

“It would be strange for the ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick to only have one wife. The question now is who is worthy of being Lord Momonga’s first wife…”

“...While that is quite an interesting question, we should probably discuss that later. All right, Albedo, won’t you give us our orders? There will be many things to do later on.”

“Indeed, you’re right. I need to issue orders soon. Shalltear, I’ll discuss this matter with you at length soon enough. We’ll need to spend some time on it.”

“I have no objections, Albedo. No other matter is more worthy of our time.”

“Very well. Then, let us move on to our plans for the future.”

After seeing Albedo recover her dignity as the Guardian Overseer, all the Floor Guardians lowered their heads in respect. However, they did not genuflect.

Of course, they had to show their respect to the Guardian Overseer Albedo, but she was not their master. While the Forty-One Supreme Beings had set her over all the other characters that they had created, but even the position of Guardian Overseer was merely one set down by the Forty-One Supreme Beings, and as such the other Guardians needed only to pay her the respect due to her station. Thus, they lowered their heads to her. On her part, Albedo was not angry at this, because she knew that was the most correct course of action.

“Firstly—I have a question for Belle von Bane, Lucifer Shadows, Heretic, and Toro before we depart. What do the four of you think about the current situation? Who do you serve loyally?” Albedo asked in a somewhat threatening tone that implied great wrath should she not receive a satisfying answer.

“Everything will take place according to the Supreme Beings wishes.” Belle said in an irritated yet apathetic tone that told everyone she wasn’t the least bit intimidated by Albedo.

“I only perform commands according to the best of my abilities.” Heretic responded passively.

“We serve the masters! Because we want them to be happy!” Lucifer said in a happy voice.

“And as for the question of the inheritance. We don’t have the right to make this decision instead of them. They will surely produce heirs if times comes.” Toro responded in a gentle tone to avoid upsetting his superior Albedo.

“And as for the question of who we serve loyally...” Belle began.

“If Lord Tempest or Lord Momonga say jump. We ask how high. If they ask to eliminate a target even if it’s a floor guardian or Rubedo herself. Either we succeed or fail trying.”

Heretic decided to cut in and finish what his older sister Belle intended to say.

“But you must understand, Lord Tempest is our creator. So, if he orders us to turn against Lord Momonga or any of you. We will do so without hesitation or remorse and we will do our best even if it results in our elimination.”

Albedo frowned and her face twitched, “You dare say this before the Floor Guardians and the Overseer of the Floor Guardians machine?! Do you and your siblings have a death wish!? Do you not fear for your master’s life or if he is in danger?!”

“We were created to serve not fear death, darling.” Besides, our master is never in danger. He IS the danger. Nobody ever survives a confrontation with him.” Belle shot an unusual killing gaze to Albedo while she said all this with her perfectly calm but professional tone.

Belle’s siblings also sent out waves of killing intent at Albedo, they did not appreciate it when someone threatens their creator and they would join their sister in protecting him.

The tension in the air was palpable between Albedo the four NPCs.

Demiurge interjected, “Belle-san, Lucifer-san, Heretic-san, Toro-san, Albedo-san, we all want what is best for Nazarick. I’m sure the four of them were just describing an almost impossible scenario. Correct Belle-san?”

Belle stopped her wave of killing intent along with her siblings, then she said:

“It is as you say Lord Demiurge. We were just outlining the possibility of a very unlikely thing.” Belle said in a calmer voice, but it still carried a hint of disdain in it.

“It better be or all of you will be destroyed!” Albedo said, practically fuming with rage.

“Duly noted meat bag. We must return to our duties, farewell to you all.” Heretic said in polite yet also insulting tone.

“Bye! It was nice meeting you all!” Lucifer exclaimed in an enthusiastic tone.

“It was a pleasure to meet you all.” Toro said in a friendly voice.

“I look forward to meeting you all again.” Belle said in an apathetic way.

“Goodbye, all of you.” The Guardians bid Tempest’s NPCs farewell while they walked away, well except Lucifer since she was riding on her younger brother Toro’s left shoulder while swinging her legs back and forth.

Demiurge and Mare sweat dropped after watching the whole spectacle for they feared that a fight would break out.

“That was close. If those five started a fight here in the arena. The arena would’ve been destroyed before we could’ve restrained them.” Demiurge stated in a relieved tone.

Mare just shrank a little after hearing that.


	3. The Massacre of Carne Village

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tempest and Momonga test out their magic in the New World by saving a village from some fanatical knights that hail from the Slane Theocracy.

The Tempest of Nazarick  
…  
So, Tempest and Momonga make their debut at Carne Village. And Tempest gets to show off his summoning magic some more.  
Also, you’ll get to see the four Evil Lords I personally created: Pride, Sloth, Lust, and Gluttony.  
Let me make myself clear on why I’m pairing I'm pairing my character Tempest with Entoma and Shalltear. It's not just beastly women Tempest is drawn too, he prefers a woman who can be wild and sweet.  
I did consider pairing Tempest with either Lupusregina Beta or Solution Epsilon but they're both too shameless for my liking. Besides, Tempest wouldn't care for Lupu's dirty jokes and I don't know how a relationship with a Slime like Solution would work.

The other female NPCs didn't seem like an option either. Aura is too young, Yuri is too professional, and CZ isn't even organic so I'm pretty sure she can't even feel sexually attracted to anyone. Narberal might be a possibility but she seems to have a single-minded obsession with just serving others (of course she wouldn't hesitate to sleep with Tempest if he asked her).

While Entoma has no problem eating people but she is mostly harmless unless provoked, usually prefers to avoid fighting, and can even be fairly friendly to humans. Contrast with most other inhabitants of Nazarick, who hate humans on principle and will kill them in horrific ways whenever they are given the freedom to do so.

As evil as Shalltear is, she does have an innocent side when it comes to certain subjects. Besides, considering how perverted she is, would it be any surprise that she's into dracophilia or zoophilia?

Besides, I intend for Entoma and Shalltear to have a 'Betty and Veronica' dynamic. "Betty" is the sweet, reliable, everyday Girl Next Door type (which could mean "kind of dull"), while "Veronica" is more alluring, exotic, and edgy, but has more of a mischievous or icy personality (which could mean "kind of a harpy"). Entoma is the 'Betty' because she's shyer about her feelings for Tempest (she gets flustered when people imply she likes Tempest) while Shalltear is the 'Veronica' because she is VERY open about the fact she wants to sleep with Tempest.  
And I already have a plan on how to make Entoma compatible for Tempest, I can just cast a spell on her to change her race. Maybe a creature with dragon-like features, such as an Aotatsu or Dragonewt or Damonfeuers.  
…  
Chapter 3: The Massacre of Carne Village  
…

Current Scene: Tempest’s Room:

After I used my [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown] I found myself in my personal room on the 9th floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

The floor of my room is made of expensive hardwood light in coloration, covered by a masterfully weaved carpet colored yellow and white. A thunderbolt symbol is entwined into the fabric, surrounded by unknown runes that are draconic in design. On the walls, several pictures of dragons and Norse Gods are hung. Accompanied with bookshelves settled on the ground. Near the walls and doorframes, one full-body suit of white paladin armor with a Templar sword, stands guard. At the top right side of the room is the dressing room and at the top left side is the bathroom. There’s a king-size bed at the top middle side of the room.

I was exhausted both mentally and physically.

It’s a good thing I had a [Ring of Sustenance] in my inventory, so I didn’t need to eat, sleep, or drink lately.

I had been spending the past three days catching up with Bone Daddy as well as practicing my magic spells, flying, and shapeshifting abilities.

My lightning attacks were pretty devastating since they could fry my opponents.

I took the time practice my flying in the arena on the 6th floor when I was all alone. When I first tried flapping my new wings I managed to get off the ground and steady myself while in the air. At one point I thought I was falling back to the ground until learned better. I was still in the air, practically floating because my wings were flapping.

The end result, I was quite satisfied with my Dragon form, it was very strong, even stronger than my Dragonoid form. My human form however, wasn’t quite as impressive since it made me take the appearance of a small, dark-haired child. When I tried lifting Jörmungandr in my human form, it wouldn’t even budge. But I could still wield other items like staffs, clubs, and knives. Although, I was still much stronger than a human since I was able to crush a skeleton’s head with my bare hands and smash a skeleton’s skull by hitting it with a club. I can still cast my magic while in my human form.

Also, having to act like a mighty warrior in front of all the NPCs was exhausting but I can’t bring myself to disappointment me, They’re all I have left of my old friends and now that they’re. in a sense, ‘alive’ it’s mine and Momonga’s responsibility to look after them.

Though it was pretty cool to see my own NPCs again, they looked just as amazing as I remembered.

Lucifer was a real dead ringer for Filo from “The Rising of the Shield Hero,” not to mention an utter cuddle bug. I should check up on her and get to know her better.

Heretic sure looked like Ciel Phantomhive from “Black Butler,” and to think the other guild members teased me for being such an otaku, but I have no regrets for my choice of character.

Toro sure looked the part of a tough as nails bodyguard. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that he’ll be here soon since I stationed him in my room.

Belle definitely has that “evil schemer” air to her. I remember that I designed her to be a brilliant strategist who knew how to manipulate others, I should see her to find out if she can help me with any of my experiments.

And right on cue Toro just walked through my door.

Toro walked with the posture of a true butler, straight and attentive much like Sebas Tian.

Toro walked up to me then put his right hand on his chest and his left arm behind his back as he bowed to me.

“Words cannot describe how overjoyed I am to have the honor to serve my own creator, Lord Tempest,” Toro said in a sincere tone.

I smiled then walked to him.

“Please Toro, there’s no need to bow. I am simply happy that I get to see my own creations. I couldn’t be prouder of how you and your siblings turned out.”

Toro stood up smiling, “You humble me with your words Supreme One.”

He’s certainly eager. But what about the others?

“Any time, but how are your ‘siblings’?”

“They are ecstatic that their master has remained with them.”

Now that makes me sad, I wonder if the Guardians have any abandonment issues.

“Thank you, Toro, now please make sure my room is in order by cleaning.”

“At once my lord,” Toro said with a bow then began cleaning the room.

“I wonder how Momo’s doing.” I thought to myself.

…

Scene Change: Momonga’s Room:

The dressing room adjoining Momonga’s suite was a chaotic mess of items, with hardly any place to put one’s feet. There were items like capes, with which Momonga could equip himself, and suits of full plate armor, which he could not use at all. In addition to armor and other protectives, there were weapons ranging from magic staves to greatswords. This was truly an assortment of gear.

Players could produce a nearly infinite variety of original magic items in YGGDRASIL. Defeated monsters dropped data crystals, which formed a magic item when they were set into an item skin.

Therefore, people would immediately buy item skins that they liked.

That was the reason for this room’s state.

Momonga picked out a greatsword from the weapons in the room. Freed from its sheath, the silvery blade sparkled in the light. The runes carved into the blade’s body sparkled as well, etching themselves into any onlookers’ eyes.

Momonga swung the greatsword around. It was as light as a feather.

Of course, this was not because the blade was light, but because Momonga was very strong.

Momonga was a mage and his spellcasting stats were very high, but his physical stats were lower in comparison. Still, the strength he had gained from reaching level one hundred was not an inconsiderable figure. If he encountered weak monsters, he could easily pulverize them with his staff.

Momonga slowly took a fighting stance, and then a loud sound of metallic clanging ran through the room. The sword he had been holding a moment ago was now on the ground.

“Shall I get that.” A voiced asked.

“Yes,” Momonga confirmed.

The maid standing by in the room, which was Narberal Gamma of the Pleiades, immediately picked up the greatsword and handed it to Momonga. However, Momonga did not pick it up but looked at his empty hands.

That was it.

That was what confused Momonga.

Although the realistic NPCs made him think he was no longer in a game, the annoying sensation that bound his body made him feel otherwise.

In YGGDRASIL, Momonga had no levels in warrior classes, and so he should not have been able to use a greatsword. However, if this new world was a reality, it only made sense that he should have been able to wield it.

Momonga shook his head and decided not to think about it. After all, he would not be able to find the answer no matter how much he pondered.

“Tidy this up.”

After Momonga directed Narberal to clean up, he turned to look at the mirror that almost covered the entire wall. What he saw was a clothed skeleton.

He should have been afraid after seeing what his body had become, but Momonga was unmoved. Indeed, it even felt natural to be that way.

There was another reason for this, besides being used to this look from his time in YGGDRASIL.

That reason was that his mind had been changed, along with his body.

The first sign of that was the fact that whenever he felt an intense surge in his emotions, he would immediately calm down, as though something was suppressing it. Another thing was that he could not feel thirst, hunger, or fatigue. There might have been something resembling lust, but he had felt no excitement even when he was caressing Albedo’s soft breasts.

A terrible sense of loss filled Momonga, and he instinctively glanced down to his waist.

“Could it be… it vanished because I never used it?”

However, his small voice and the sense of loss vanished as he spoke.

Therefore, Momonga concluded that these changes, in particular, the mental changes, were part of the undead immunity to mind-affecting effects.

Right now, he possessed an undead body and mind, but there were some remnants of his humanity left. Therefore, even when he experienced emotions, if they surged to a peak, they would be immediately suppressed. If he continued on like this, he might end up losing all his emotions in the future.

Of course, even if that happened, it would hardly be a big deal, because no matter how this world turned out or what happened to his body, his will was still his own.

In addition, the NPCs like Shalltear, Belle, and so on would be by his side. Perhaps worrying about becoming undead was premature.

“「Create Greater Item」!”

Once Momonga cast the spell, his body was sheathed in a suit of engraved full plate armor. It glowed darkly, and its surface was covered in gold and silver patterns. It looked very expensive.

He moved around in it to see how it felt. Although it was somewhat restrictive, he was not immobilized. In addition, the armor fit his body very well, which was quite unexpected considering the gaps between his bare-boned body and the armor.

It would seem that he could use magic-generated items, just like in YGGDRASIL.

As Momonga silently applauded the wonders of magic, he peeked at himself in the mirror from between the gaps of his closed helm. A dashing warrior looked back at him, nothing at all like a magician. Momonga nodded in satisfaction and gulped in his nonexistent throat. Right now, he understood how a child felt when he angered his parents.

“I will be stepping out for a while.”

“The guards are ready for you,” Narberal reflexively replied. However—

The truth was, he disliked them.

On the first day when the guards followed him around, he felt pressurized; on the second he was used to it, and then he felt like showing them off. And on the third day—

Momonga suppressed the urge to sigh.

It was all too stiff and formal for him. The guards followed him everywhere he went, and whenever he met someone, they bowed to him.

Maybe, if he could have walked around nonchalantly with his guards in tow, it would have been tolerable. But he could not do that, because he had to maintain the gravitas of the ruler of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick at all times. He could not allow a moment of laxity to ruin his image, so his nerves were constantly on edge. This caused a lot of stress to the formerly human Momonga.

Even though his strong emotions were promptly suppressed, his mind felt like it was sizzling in a low flame all the time.

And then there were the unbelievably beautiful women who plastered themselves to his side at all times, taking care of him in all ways. As a man, he was delighted by the attention, but the invasion of his personal space and his life was wearing him out as well.

That stress was another relic of his humanity.

In any case, it was not a good sign that he, the master of Nazarick, was being subjected to this emotional distress amidst these strange circumstances. It might lead to him making a poor decision in times of emergency.

He needed to refresh himself.

Momonga’s eyes went wide as he came to that decision. His expression did not change, of course, but the lights in his eyes burned brighter.

“No... there is no need for the guards to accompany me. I simply wish to walk by myself.”

“Pl-Please wait and reconsider, if something happens to you Lord Momonga. It is our duty to act as your shields and perish. We cannot allow any harm to come to your person.” Narberal replied fearfully

The maids and the other vassals wanted nothing more than to protect their masters even at the cost of their own lives. In that sense, Momonga’s request to go walking by himself — which completely disregarded their feelings — was a cruel one.

However, it had been over three days since this abnormality occurred, roughly seventy-three hours. In this time, Momonga had been desperately trying to maintain the stern facade of the ruler of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, but now he needed a rest.

Therefore, even though he felt bad for them, Momonga thought of an excuse and said:

“...I have to do something in secret, and I will not allow anyone to follow me.”

A brief silence followed.

Just as Momonga was starting to feel that it was dragging on, Narberal finally replied:

“Understood. Then, please be safe, Lord Momonga.”

Momonga’s heart ached briefly as the combat maid ate it up hook, line, and sinker, but he brushed it aside.

There should not be anything wrong with taking a short break and going outside to check out the surrounding scenery. Indeed, it was very important that he saw for himself whether they had indeed been transported to another world.

The excuses were welling up because Momonga was starting to feel that he had been too selfish.

Momonga waved away the guilt in his heart and decided to cast [Message].

[Message] “Tempest, can you hear me? You’re not asleep right now are you?”

[Message] “I’m here Momo. And no, I wasn’t doing anything important. Just relaxing in my room. I spent the last three days practicing my shapeshifting, flying, and magic spells.”

[Message] “Really? I hope that went well for you.”

[Message] “Eh, more or less. My magic and wings are working just fine. My shapeshifting, not so much.”

[Message] “What’s wrong with your shapeshifting?”

[Message] “I tried turning into a human and the result I got was a small child who can’t even hold my sword Jörmungandr.”

[Message] “Does that inconvenience you in any way?”

[Message] “I’ll manage. I can’t use Jörmungandr in my human form, but I can still cast my magic and wield other weapons, just as long as they’re small than my greatsword.”

[Message] “I guess there are some things you can’t change about yourself.”

[Message] “True. Fortunately, I’ve been using a [Ring of Sustenance] to avoid needing to eat, drink, or sleep for the past three days. How are you doing Bone Man?”

[Message] “You’re so lucky, I can’t even drink, eat, or taste anything at all anymore and I can’t refresh my mind after a good night’s sleep. But you get my point. Anyway, I’m heading outside, do you want to accompany me?”

[Message] “Sure thing Momo, I got nothing else planned right now. Where do we meet exactly?”

[Message] “In the 1st floor at the entrance of the tomb. In about two hours.”

[Message] “Got ya. See ya there Momonga!”

[Message] “Goodbye Tempest,” after that sentence Momonga had ended the [Message] spell.

Momonga activated the [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown].

…

Scene Change: First Floor Entrance of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick: Back to Tempest:

After ending my chat with Momonga, I traveled on foot to reach my destination, which was a large hall. There were rows of narrow mortuary slabs on both sides of him, but there were no corpses on them now. The floor was polished limestone. I saw Momonga, behind him was a flight of stairs leading down, and at their end was a set of double doors, through which one could access the First Floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. The sconces in the walls had no torches; the only light came from the bluish-white moonlight streaming in from the outside.

This was the closest location to the surface that the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown could take anyone, the central mausoleum on the surface of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.

I met Momonga here as we got down to business.

“Hello Momo, it’s always nice to see my number one pal. What up with that armor though?”

“Hello to you too Tempest. The reason I’m wearing this armor is so the NPCs don’t recognize me, and I can sneak out to get some fresh air for a little while.”

“Huh, good idea. I should do that too. Instead I’ve just been telling the NPCs that I met that I’ll either explore the tomb further, do some patrolling, or practice my magic. Some of them, especially Shalltear, Entoma, and my 4 NPCs, insisted a personal guard accompany me but I told them I’d be fine on my own since I’m not exactly helpless. They seemed reluctant to let me travel alone but they left me alone anyway.

“Wait, they just let you walk here on foot all the way from the 9th floor?”

“Yep. I wanted to take the scenic route and be alone with my thoughts. I like to walk around when I’m bored. I did that in real life plenty of times.”

“Right. Well, at least your lucky, since I can’t even set foot outside my suite without a personal guard.”

“Sheesh, talk about overprotective. Reminds me of my mother, always wondering what I’m doing.”

“At least you still have a mother.” Momonga said in a somewhat harsh tone.

There was an awkward silence after that, then I realized what I had just done.

“I’m sorry Suzuki, that was a dick move on my part. I had forgotten you lost your mother.”

“It’s fine Donny. I’ve already accepted that fact. Anyway, let’s head out.”

“Right behind, O great one,” I said in a sarcastic yet sincere voice.

Momonga laughed at that statement.

All we needed to do was take a few steps to reach the outside world. But despite the vast space before us, me and Momonga could not take those steps. 

That was because of the thoroughly unexpected encounter before us.

The silhouettes of heteromorphic beings loomed before us. There were seven monsters in total.

One of them looked like a fearsome demon. Fangs protruded from its mouth and its body was covered in scales. It had stout arms and sharp claws, as well as flaming wings and a snake-like tail.

Another was a feminine-looking monster with a crow’s head, dressed in a tight-fitting bondage outfit.

The other one wore full plate armor that was open at the chest, proudly revealing its abdominal muscles. If not for the black bat wings and the two horns protruding from its temples, it might have been mistaken for a beautiful young man. However, its eyes held a desire that knew no limit.

Another one looked like a giant, obese fish monster with four-arms, webbed feet, aquamarine skin covering his arms, legs and back with his face, chest, and stomach being colored white, fins on his forearms, shoulders, and the side of his face, sharp eyes, large fangs, sharp claws, purple lips, yellow eyes, a small red oval over and under each eye, carries a golden trident in his upper right hand, and has mouths full of razor-sharp teeth all over his body.

The second female of the group looked like a 7-foot tall, curvaceous, blood red-skinned woman with long black hair, red bat-like wings, long red devil tail, H cup sized breasts, 5 incredibly sharp claws on each hand, 2 fangs in her upper jaw/maxilla and 2 fangs in her lower jaw/mandible, and sapphire eyes. She was wearing a skintight black zip front leather latex leotard, which emphasizes her breasts, body, and legs along with long black leather gloves, translucent black thigh-high stockings, and black leather stiletto-heeled knee-high boots. She has a small mask outlining her eyes, a handcuff on each wrist, and a utility belt around her hips. She sports a black domino mask and is often seen carrying a Breast Ripper in her left and either a flogger-style whip or spiked whip or barbed whip in her right hand.

One of them looked like a 20 feet tall, fat, six-armed, six-legged, light blue insect with 6 green compound eyes (3 on each side of his face), a pair of cockroach wings on his back, a pair of antennas on his head, a pair of mandibles near his mouth, a wasp tail, and carries a long green scepter in his left hand.

The final one was a 6 feet tall, slender, young size J cup bust buxom angelic female with majestic purple and light-blue armor with golden highlights, shining blue wings, neck-length and slightly wavy ice-blue hair, large amethyst eyes, a pale complexion, and an ornate mask. However, her cape that dragged with her legs appeared burned to black and shredded, while the crown hovering over her head appears cracked and broken.

They were the 7 Evil Lords of Wrath, Jealousy (Envy), Greed (Avarice), Gluttony, Lust, Sloth, and Pride, respectively.

All the Evil Lords turned their attention to Momonga and me, but they did not move, only watching with their unwavering gazes. The grim atmosphere weighed down on everyone present.

They were all monsters around level eighty or so, and they should have been assigned to sentry duty around the Infernal Shrine where Demiurge lived, near the gate to the Eighth Floor. Shalltear’s undead minions should have been stationed in the upper floors to stand guard. So, what were Demiurge’s subordinates, his elite guards, doing in here?

Behind them was one more figure. I had not noticed him until now, but it had been watching Momonga from the beginning. Once he revealed himself, everything became clear.

“Demiurge…”

A surprised look appeared on the demon who had been addressed by name (Demiurge). That look seemed to be saying “why would his masters be here,” or “why would there be a mysterious monster here.”

I decided to place my bet on a slim possibility, and advanced. If Momonga stopped now, it would be a miracle if his true identity was not uncovered. In any event, our plan was to slowly move forward while staying near the wall, ignoring the monsters and walking past them.

I was fully aware that their eyes were on us. However, I suppressed my feelings of weakness with sheer willpower, held my chest high, and continued moving forward with Momonga.

Once we had gotten close enough to them, all the demons simultaneously genuflected, bowing their heads to us. The one at their head was, of course, Demiurge. His neat movements were slick and elegant, as though he were a nobleman.

“Momonga-sama, Tempest-sama. May I ask why you have come here, without your escort, and dressed like this?”

The cat was out of the bag.

Demiurge could be said to be the wisest being in The Great Tomb of Nazarick, so being seen through was inevitable. Well, my own NPC Belle could give him a run for his money in the IQ department. However, I felt that the reason Momonga had been seen through was because of the teleportation.

Only two people in Nazarick possessed the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown that permitted its bearer to teleport freely through its halls — me and Momonga. And I was standing here in plain view, so that only left one other culprit.

“Ah… it’s complicated. Demiurge, you should know why I am wearing this. As for an escort, Tempest is escorting me.”

Demiurge’s elegant face twisted in consternation. He took several breaths before answering:

“My deepest apologies for being unable to divine your fathomless intentions, Momonga-sama—”

“As for the matter of Lord Tempest escorting you,” Demiurge continued. “It is unwise for the last two Supreme Beings to walk outside without an escort.”

“Demiurge, do you believe we are incapable of protecting ourselves? I asked with my authoritative voice.

“Apologies Lord Tempest, I meant no offense. However, it is not a matter of the abilities of the Supreme Ones to defend themselves. But the possible threats that might be looming around every corner. We still don’t know this world yet so we must remain vigilant and cautious when it comes to the Supreme Beings safety. You two must be protected by us at all times. Nazarick cannot risk losing either of you.”

“Is that right? But anyway, call me Dark Warrior.” Answered Momonga.

“Pardon me, Dark Warrior-sama…?”

Demiurge seemed to have something to say, but Momonga seemed to be trying his best to ignore it. Although it was a pretty embarrassing name, it made sense when one considered the names of other monsters in the game.

The reason behind having Demiurge address him by a different name was quite simple. Although only Demiurge and his vassals were here at the moment, this place was an exit, and many underlings would be passing through here. Momonga most likely did not want them to call him “Momonga-sama, Momonga-sama,” wherever he went.

How much did Demiurge understand without knowing Momonga’s thoughts? Just then, a look of enlightenment filled Demiurge’s face.

“I see… so that’s what’s going.”

“Eh? What’s going on?” I wondered since Demiurge’s comment was confusing.

Then it hit me.

“They actually believe that big pile of horseshit we were spewing? Maybe he’s just overthinking things?” I was trying really hard not to facepalm.

I stopped myself from speaking the words in my heart.

As a mortal man, I had no idea what conclusion that Demiurge, intelligent and cunning beyond measure, had come to after Momonga’s ruminations. All I could do was hope that Demiurge realized our true intentions as my head was covered in cold sweat under my dragon-like helmet.

“I believe I have some grasp on your profound schemes, Mo… no, Dark Warrior-sama. Truly, they are considerations that only the ruler of this domain would have taken into account. However, I cannot allow your noble self to proceed unaccompanied. I am aware that it may inconvenience both of you, but I hope that in your boundless mercy, you will permit one of us to escort the two of you.”

“...It can’t be helped. Very well, I will allow one person to travel with us.” Momonga seemed to have finally given in.

Demiurge smiled elegantly.

“My deepest thanks for humoring my selfish request, Dark Warrior-sama.”

“...Just call me Dark Warrior, you can dispense with the honorifics.”

“How could I!? To do so would be unforgivable. Of course, I can obey such an order while acting as a spy or performing special missions, but within the Great Tomb of Nazarick, how could anyone not show the respect due to yourself, Momonga-sama… no, Dark Warrior-sama and Tempest-same!”

I facepalmed internally.

“Why do these guys have to take everything so seriously?” I struggled to find an answer.

Still though, Demiurge’s passionate monologue moved me a little, and I could not help but nod in approval. I mused that being called Dark Warrior would lead people to mock Momo for having such a lame name, and was I betting that he regretted picking that alias so casually.

“Forgive me for wasting your valuable time, Mo-Dark Warrior-sama. Then, you lot will wait here for orders, and explain to the others that I am on the move.”

“Understood, Demiurge-sama.”

“Well, it seems your subordinates approve as well. Then, Demiurge, let us be off.”

Momonga and me walked past the bowing Demiurge, who raised his head and followed his masters.

…

Scene Change: 7 Evil Lords:

“Why was Mo… cough, why was Dark Warrior-sama dressed like that and why did he only bring Tempest-sama to escort him?”

“I don’t know, but there should be some reason for it.”

“It’s not our place to question the Supreme Ones.” Evil Lord Pride said, reprimanding her subordinates.

“I figured they’d get a snack before leaving.” Gluttony said while distracted, he was busy eating a ham sandwich he brought with him.

“The Supreme Beings are the wisest entities in all of Nazarick, they always know what they’re doing.” Sloth stated in a bored sounding voice, he really just wanted to get back to his nap, but he couldn’t refuse Lord Demiurge’s order to patrol this area.

“At the very least they are rockin’ the armor look. I love a man who knows how to dress.” Lust said in a soothing tone.

The remaining Evil Lords muttered to each other in confusion.

After all, they had not seen through Momonga’s disguise because he teleported here, and Tempest didn’t bother wearing a disguise.

Momonga and Tempest had no way of knowing this, but the denizens of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, or rather, all of Ainz Ooal Gown’s servants radiated a certain aura that the servants could sense in order to determine whether a stranger was friend or foe. Within the guild, the aura of the Forty-One Supreme Beings that ruled Nazarick — now reduced to Momonga and his champion Tempest alone — was enough to tell them that the one before them was their absolute ruler and the Champion of Nazarick. They could sense their mighty presence from a distance, and they could not have mistaken Momonga for anyone else, even through his full plate armor. They would have seen through Momonga’s disguise immediately, regardless of how he arrived.

It was easy to differentiate their aura from the others in Nazarick.

The doors to the first floor swung wide, and someone climbed the stairs.

Judging by the aura that came from the stairs, the newcomer was a Guardian.

The Evil Lords saw the beautiful face of the Guardian Overseer, Albedo, rising from the steps. They went to one knee as they realized that they were in the presence of someone who was the equal of their master, Demiurge.

To Albedo, the vassals kneeling before her was merely natural, and she paid them no heed as she looked around.

Only after Albedo failed to find the person she was looking for did she turn back to the Evil Lords. She spoke without addressing anyone in particular:

“...I don’t see Lord Demiurge around. Where is he?”

“He… a Dark Warrior-sama and Tempest-sama passed through just now, so Demiurge-sama decided to accompany them outside Guardian Overseer.” Pride answered.

“Dark Warrior...sama? I don’t recall a name like that among the servants… Which servant did Demiurge accompany? A Floor Guardian following a lowly servant? How strange…”

“But if this Dark-Warrior-sama accompanied Tempest-sama and Demiurge then that means…” Albedo’s eyes shot open with revelation.

“...Momonga-sama came here!”

Albedo’s voice seemed to crack a little, and so the Evil Lords calmly replied:

“...His name was Dark Warrior-sama.” Greed said.

“...And his guards? Did Demiurge receive some notification from Momonga-sama? But I already arranged to meet him, so does this mean Demiurge did not know Momonga-sama was coming? Ah, forget it, I need to change and bathe!”

Albedo touched her clothing.

Her clothes were dirty from her work. Her hair was tangled at the ends, as were her wings.

However, such petty imperfections could not begin to diminish the appeal of a world-class beauty like Albedo. It was insignificant, like the loss of a point or two out of a hundred million. However, to Albedo, even the slightest blemish on her appearance was a mark of failure. She could not show this filthy self of hers to the man she loved so dearly.

“The nearest bath… the one at Shalltear’s place? ...But then she might get suspicious… although I’ll just have to bear with it. You lot, go to my room and get my clothes! Quickly!”

Just then, one of the Evil Lords called out to Albedo, who was pacing around. She was the Demon General of Jealousy.

“...Albedo-sama, though this might be rude, would your present attire not be better?”

“...What do you mean?” Albedo angrily retorted as she stopped in her tracks. She thought the other woman wanted Momonga to see her in this unkempt state.

“...No, I simply meant that a beautiful woman like yourself would be best served by showing the signs of your hard work. In the end, you will still benefit, will you not, Albedo-sama?”

The other Evil Lords added their suggestions, “By the time you could bathe and prepare herself to meet Lord Tempest and Lord Momonga… Dark Warrior, much time would have been wasted. It would be a shame to miss a good opportunity because of that.”

“I see—” Albedo mused.

They had a point.

“That makes sense… it seems I panicked because I have not seen Momonga-sama for such a long time. I can only meet Momonga-sama after eighteen hours, don’t you think eighteen hours is too long?”

“Yes, it is.” Wrath said.

“If only I could finish laying out the administrative framework and return to Momonga-sama’s side… then I’d better not waste time griping and find Momonga-sama. Where is Momonga-sama now?”

“He just stepped out.” Lust informed her.

“I see.”

Although Albedo’s reply seemed curt, there was a distant smile on her face as she imagined being with Momonga, and she flapped her wings in an adorable way. She walked past the Evil Lords with hurried steps.

The footsteps suddenly halted, and Albedo asked the seven Evil Lords again:

“For the last time, do you really think Momonga-sama will approve of seeing me dirtied like this?”

…

Scene Change: Outside of Nazarick:

After leaving the mausoleum, me and Momonga were greeted by a beautiful sight. The surface area of the Great Tomb of Nazarick was two hundred meters square, protected by six-meter-thick walls, with an entrance and an exit at the front and back.

The Tomb’s grass was trimmed short and felt refreshing. On the other hand, the Tomb’s trees had leafy branches that shrouded much of the grounds in shade, and the extensive shadows gave the place a gloomy air. There were also alabaster tombstones scattered about.

The juxtaposition of the neat grass and the messy tombstones was quite incongruous. In addition, there were exquisite carvings of angels and goddesses all over the place, each of which was easily a work of art, but the chaotic tomb design was frustrating, to say the least.

Apart from the large central mausoleum, there were four smaller mausoleums in the north, south, east, and west, each defended by statues of armored warriors, each six meters tall.

The central mausoleum was the gateway to the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and it was from this place that Momonga had emerged into the outside world.

We stood at the top of the stairs and quietly surveyed the landscape before us.

The Great Tomb of Nazarick had originally been located in the icy world of Helheim, which was perpetually shrouded in darkness. The atmosphere was grim and dark, and the sky was constantly overcast. Yet, what I saw now was vastly different from that.

I was looking at a beautiful night sky.

I looked to the heavens and I could not help but sigh. I shook his head, as though unable to believe my own eyes.

“Amazing… to think they could include such detail in a virtual world… the air here is so fresh that it must never have been polluted. People born in this world wouldn’t need artificial lungs to breathe…” I heard Momonga say in a depressed tone.

“Agreed. I can’t help but think that our old friend Blue Planet would’ve enjoyed looking at it.”

“Yes. He would’ve loved to see this.”

I had never seen such a clear night sky in his life.

I could tell Momonga wanted to cast a spell, but he was hampered by his armor. There was a certain mage class called [Armored Mage] and a certain warrior class called [Magic Knight], which was one of my job classes, that allowed for the casting of spells in armor, but Momonga did not have either class. Also, my [Armor of the Thunderer] was a unique armor that could be worn by both mages and warriors. As a result of lacking the [Armored Mage] and [Magic Knight] job classes, Momonga’s full plate armor kept him from using magic. Even armor created by magic would not allow its wearer to cast spells while wearing it. Currently, there were only five spells he could use in his armored state, but sadly, the flight magic Momonga wanted to use was not part of them.

Momonga reached his hand into his pocket dimension and withdrew an item. It was a necklace with a pendant shaped like a bird’s wing.

He put on the necklace and focused on it. The power buried within the necklace took effect.

“「Fly」.”

Freed from the shackles of gravity, Momonga floated lightly into the sky. He rose upward in a straight line, gaining speed as he did.

“Well, I can’t let him show me up.” I mentally said in a competitive tone.

It was a good thing I practiced flying with my 1-meter wings two days ago.

I spread my wings and then with all my strength, I jumped upwards and shot myself far into the sky above.

I felt the wind rush past my face as I soared through the sky.

Although Demiurge was frantically trying to catch up, we paid him no heed and ascended steadily. Before I knew it, we were several hundred meters in the air.

Only then did Momonga’s body slow down. He forcefully cast aside his helmet, and said nothing — no, as he looked down at this world, he could not say anything.

The blue-white light of the moon and stars chased away the darkness of the land. The grasslands, ruffled by a gentle wind, seemed to be glowing. The countless stars and the moon gave off their own radiance as well, shining brilliantly against the light coming from the earth.

I heard Momonga sigh:

“This is beautiful… no, beautiful would not begin to describe this… what would Blue Planet-san say if he were here?”

I also took off my own helmet and put it in my inventory then said:

“He’d probably be at a loss for words. But then again, the guy was always full of surprises.”

Momonga nodded at my response. Although, I couldn’t help but wonder.

“What would Blue Planet do if he saw this world whose air, land and water had not been polluted?” I asked myself.

I recalled my comrade from the past, the man who had shown up for the guild’s offline meetings, whose stony face had broken into a delicate smile when he was praised as a romantic — that gentleman who loved the night sky.

No, he loved nature, which had been polluted and almost completely destroyed. He played YGGDRASIL because he appreciated those scenes which no longer existed in reality. He had built the Sixth Floor with his blood, sweat, and tears. Its night sky was his personal design, and it was a reproduction of the idealized world in his heart.

That man who loved nature was always particularly excited when the topic came up. Some might even call it an obsession.

“How excited would he be if he could see this world? How passionately would he declaim its glories in his baritone voice?” I thought.

I suddenly realized that I missed our old friend very dearly. Hoping to hear him expounding his wide knowledge again, I looked to the side.

There was nobody there. There could not be anybody there.

I heard the flapping of wings, and then I saw the transformed Demiurge appear before us.

This was Demiurge’s imp or half-demon form, with a pair of large black leathery wings growing from his back and the face of a frog.

Demiurge is able to shape-shift to a limited degree thanks to his [Shapeshifter] Job Class, he can also turn into a Lesser Imp which resembles Kermit the Frog in a suit.

Certain heteromorphic creatures had multiple forms. In Nazarick, Lucifer, Sebas, Albedo, and I had other forms as well.

Although it was troublesome to train up levels in heteromorphic racial classes, they were very popular because they had different forms like final bosses in a game. In particular, people were fond of how these heteromorphic beings were weaker in their human and demi-human forms, but more powerful in their fully monstrous forms.

Momonga turned away from Demiurge, who was partially transformed into a demon and looked to the sparkling stars in the sky once more. He spoke softly, as though to our absent friends:

“...To think one could see so far just by the light of the moon and the stars… it’s hard to believe that this world is real. Blue Planet-san... this world is like a chest of jewels.”

“Perhaps it is Mo— Dark Warrior-san. I believe the beauty of this world exists to adorn The Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick,” Demiurge said in a reverent voice.

The sudden statement sounded like it was finding fault with my memories of my comrades, and it upset me. It also seemed to have upset Momo. However, the anger faded as I gazed upon the beautiful sight before me.

In addition, the act of overlooking this world, which seemed so tiny before us, made me feel that perhaps it was not a bad idea to play the role of a champion.

“Indeed, it is beautiful. You say these stars exist to adorn Nazarick… perhaps that is so. Perhaps the reason that we have come here is to claim this chest of jewels which belongs to nobody else.” Momonga said.

I couldn’t keep a small smile from appearing on my face. It was nice to see Momo find something that makes him happy.

Momonga clenched his fist before him, and it looked as though he was taking the stars into his grasp. Of course, that was simply because his hand was covering the stars up. He shrugged at his childish behavior and said to Demiurge:

“...No, this is not something we can claim for ourselves. Perhaps these jewels are meant to adorn the Great Tomb of Nazarick; myself, and my friends from Ainz Ooal Gown.”

“...What a moving statement. If it is your wish, then by your command, I shall lead Nazarick’s forces to claim this chest of jewels. I, Demiurge would like nothing more than to present this chest of jewels to my lords and masters, Momonga-sama and Tempest-sama.”

Those cheesy lines made me and Momonga chuckle. I wondered if Demiurge had been intoxicated by the atmosphere as well.

“As long as we do not know anything about the beings who live in this world, I can only say that your idea is foolish. For all we know, we might be minuscule weaklings in this world. However, conquering this world might be quite interesting.”

“Conquering? Eh, that sounds like a lot of work. Don’t you mean adventuring dude? I might enjoy going out and facing whatever challenges and dangers this new world holds. Defeating new opponents, exploring uncharted land, hunting big game, learning secrets, and making new friends.” I said with an eager expression on my face.

Momo just nodded at my answer.

“ Really though? Conquering the world was something that only the villains in children’s shows would say.” I mentally scolded.

Besides, I knew that conquering the world was not easy. And then there was the matter of ruling the world after conquering it, preventing insurgency and maintaining public order, as well as all the other problems that came with ruling a host of nations. When one thought about these things, one would realize that there was hardly any point in conquering the world.

I knew all of this and I’m pretty sure Momonga has enough common sense to know it as well, but he still spoke of conquering this world, no doubt because seeing its beauty awoke that juvenile desire within him. Also, as he was still getting into the mindset of being the leader of the dreaded guild Ainz Ooal Gown, those words accidentally fell from his mouth.

“I hope he doesn’t end up changing too much. I’d hate to lost my only friend as well.” I worried internally.

And there was one more reason I could think of.

“...Ulbert-san, Luci★Fer-san, Variable Talisman-san, Bellriver-san…”

It was because we remembered what our former guildmates had once said, “Let’s conquer one of the worlds in YGGDRASIL.”

“Let’s conquer this brave new world,” me and Momonga said in unison.

I knew that Demiurge, the wisest mind in Nazarick, would understand that taking over the world was just a child’s joke.

“Hopefully,” I muttered.

Although, when I turned my head to look at Demiurge, I saw the smile that had spread across his frog face, so I couldn’t be sure he won’t leave matters at that. I wasn’t sure if Momonga saw his smile though.

But Momonga did not look at Demiurge, instead, he turned his gaze to the horizon, where the infinite expanse of the earth and sky met.

“...This is an unknown world. But are we the only ones who made it here? Did the other members of the guild come here too?” Momonga asked.

“Probably, probably not. We don’t know for sure if any of them logged into YGGDRASIL before the shutdown.”

Although one could not play multiple characters in YGGDRASIL, our comrades who left might have made new characters on the last day of the game. Also, given that we had been online so close to the forced logoff time, Herohero might have come here too.

The fact was, our presence here was an anomaly. The unknown circumstances that had brought us here might have brought our comrades who no longer played the game here with us.

We could not contact them with a 「Message」, but there might be many reasons for that. They might be on a different continent, or something had changed in the spell’s effect, and so on.

“...I see… then as long as the whole world knows the name of Ainz Ooal Gown…”

“…Then it’s only a matter of time till our friends find us.” I finished Momonga’s train of thought.

If our comrades were here, then the name of the guild would reach their ears. Once they found out, they would come over. Momonga seemed really confident in the strength of our friendship. I should be as well, it wouldn’t hurt to have a little hope.

Deep in thought, we looked over to Nazarick and saw a curious sight.

A wave over a hundred meters across was moving along the land as though it were the sea. Little ripples rose from the surface of the plains, slowly heading in the same direction as they fused together, finally becoming small hillocks as they approached Nazarick.

The gigantic pile of dirt shattered against the sturdy walls of Nazarick, like waves crashing against the shore.

“...「Earth Surge」. He used his skills to enlarge the effective area, as well as his other class skills…” Momonga muttered in respect.

In all of Nazarick, only one person could use this magic.

“That’s our Mare for you. Such a hard-little worker It seems camouflaging the walls is an easy task for him. It’s nice to see him using his skills effectively” I said while admiring Mare’s talent.

Demiurge just smiled at our comments.

“Indeed. Mare has also recruited several golems and undead — who are tireless — to help. However, their progress is slow and hardly ideal. In addition, some gaps will be left after moving the earth, which will need to be filled with plants. That will only increase his workload further.” Momonga said in an analytical tone.

“...Concealing the walls of Nazarick was a time-consuming task to begin with. The only question is whether he will be discovered as he works. How is our perimeter security?” Momonga asked.

“Our early-warning net has already been constructed. We will know of the intrusion of any intelligent beings within five kilometers, and we will be able to observe them without their knowledge.” Demiurge replied.

“Well done. However,… this net is manned by the underlings, right?”

Demiurge replied in the positive, and Momonga suggested it might be good to erect another security net, just in case.

“...I have a plan for the security net. Put it into motion.”

“Well done Demiurge. You do us proud.” I said in a gentle manner.

“Thank you, Lord Tempest! Yet, a lowly servant such as myself is unworthy of your praise.”

“Don’t be so modest Demiurge. We’re proud of all the NPCs for their efforts.” Momonga stated.

“Thank you for your praises. Mighty Supreme Beings!”

Demiurge then calmed down and said:

“Understood. I will discuss this with Albedo and then combine her suggestions with your orders. Also, Dark Warrior-sama—” Demiurge replied.

“—It’s fine, Demiurge. You can call me Momonga.”

“I doubt he will,” I said mentally.

“Understood… may I ask about what you plan to do next, Lord Momonga?”

“Since Mare has carried out his task splendidly, we intend to check in on him. I also plan to give him a suitable reward in person…”

A smile appeared on Demiurge’s face. It was a gentle look that seemed completely out of place on a devil’s face.

“I believe the Supreme Ones thanks will be the finest reward he can receive, Momonga-sama… my deepest apologies, I suddenly remembered something I have to do. As for Mare…”

“It’s fine. Go, Demiurge.”

“Yeah, go do what you need to do Demiurge,” I told him.

“Thank you very much, Lord Momonga, Lord Tempest.”

As I and Demiurge spread our wings to fly off, Momonga aimed for a point on the ground and landed, donning his helmet along the way. The Dark Elf near Momonga’s destination seemed to notice our descent and looked up, surprise written all over his face as he saw me and Momonga.

Mare ran over with a tatata sound as we landed upon the ground. The hem of Mare’s skirt fluttered around his thighs as his legs pumped up and down.

For a moment, something peeked out from below, then vanished again… no, I was not interested in looking under Mare’s skirt. I was just curious about what he wore underneath it.

“Lo-lord Momonga, Lord Tempest w-welcome .”

“Mm… Mare, there is no need to be nervous. Take your time and go slowly. If you’re not used to it, you can also dispense with the polite language… though only when we’re in private, of course.”

“I, I can’t do that, how could I not speak respectfully to the Supreme Beings… actually, big sister shouldn’t be doing that too. It, it’s terribly rude…”

I disliked the NPCs being so formal around us. Momonga said:

“I see, Mare. Well, if you insist, then we’re fine with it. However, we want you to know that we won’t force you to do so.”

“Yeah just calm down kid,” I confirmed what Momo was saying.

“Y-Yes! ...Al-Although, may I ask why you two came here, Lord Momonga, Lord Tempest? Did I make a mistake…?”

“Of course not, Mare. In fact, we came here to praise you.”

“It’s true. You’ve been working so hard lately that we felt you deserved a reward.”

The expression on Mare’s face went from fear that he might be scolded to surprise.

“Mare, your work is very important. Even with our security net in place, the inhabitants of this world may be over level one hundred. If we are faced with opponents like that, concealing the Great Tomb of Nazarick will be our top priority..”

“Better safe than sorry,” I muttered.

Mare nodded furiously in agreement.

“Which is why, Mare, we wanted to let you know how satisfied we are that you have carried out your task. In addition, we want to tell you how relieved we are that you were the one handling this matter.”

One of the ironclad rules of society that I knew Momonga believed in was that a good boss should compliment the good work of his subordinates.

The Guardians thought highly of us; conversely, in order to have them continue to be loyal to us, we had to act in a way that was worthy of their praise.

Allowing these NPCs that our guild members had made together to feel disappointment or betrayed because of our actions would shatter Momonga’s golden record as a guild master. It would be like a mark of failure branded on him. Because of that, Momonga had to be careful to maintain the air of authority befitting a ruler when he spoke to the NPCs. And I had to act like a proper bodyguard and second-in-command, so I don’t fail Momo and Nazarick.

“...You understand what I’m thinking, don’t you, Mare?”

“Yes! Lord Momonga!”

Mare might have been dressed like a girl, but the fact that he was a boy was evident from his panicked face.

“Very good. Then, for your hard work, I shall give you a reward.”

“How, how could I accept such a thing? I was simply doing my duty!”

“...You deserve a reward for your good performance. It’s only natural.”

“It, it’s not like that! We exist to give our all for the Supreme Beings, so working hard is only to be expected from us!”

This back and forth went on for a while, and the two of them could not meet in the middle. Momonga decided to cut this sequence of events short.

“Then, how about this. In exchange for this reward, continue your loyal service to me. That should do it.”

“Is, is that really all right?”

To cut him short, Momonga produced the reward in question — a ring.

“Mo-Momonga-sama… you’ve taken the wrong thing out!”

“No, I—”

“—It can’t be right! That’s the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown, a treasure which only the Supreme Beings possess! I can’t accept a reward like that.”

Momonga was shocked at how the unexpected reward was making Mare tremble.

He was correct in that this ring was intended for the guild members. Only one hundred of them had been made, so that meant that there were only fifty-nine rings without owners — no, fifty-eight. As a result, they were quite precious, but the reason for this gift was not just as a reward, but the hope that it would be put to good use.

In order to put Mare’s rampant imagination at ease, Momonga sternly said, “Calm down, Mare.”

“I, I can’t! How could I accept a valuable ring that only the Supreme Beings should possess—”

“—You can, and you will Mare. Now calm down, kid. Teleportation is blocked in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and that generates all kinds of inconveniences. Besides, think of this ring as a symbol of our unwavering trust and faith in you and your hard work. We insist that you accept it. If not for our sake then for your own faith in your work. Not to mention this ring will help with your work inside the tomb. So, you might say that this reward is a promotion.” I said to calm Mare’s nerves.

After hearing this, Mare slowly regained his composure.

“My hope is that during an enemy attack, the Guardians will command their respective Floor’s forces. At the same time, it would be quite sad if a Guardian was unable to move around freely due to the teleportation block. Therefore, I give this ring to you.” Momonga said.

Momonga raised the ring on his finger high. It glittered brilliantly in the moonlight.

“Mare, we are pleased with your loyalty. At the same time, we understand your reluctance as an NPC to accept this ring which symbolizes us. However, if you truly understand our intentions, you will accept my orders and this ring with them.”

“But, but, why me… shouldn’t everyone else have gotten one too...?”

“We had intended to give the others these rings; however, you are the first. This is because we are pleased with your work. If I gave this to someone who did not work, then this ring would have no meaning. Or do you intend to devalue this ring?” I told Mare with a stern face.

“No, no, of course not!”

“Then please take it, Mare. After accepting this ring, continue working hard for Nazarick and us.”

Mare nervously reached out his hand and slowly accepted the ring.

I felt somewhat guilty as I watched Mare. The truth was that I could tell Momonga had an ulterior motive for giving him the ring.

That was because once Mare had the ring, it would be more difficult for people to tell that Momonga was teleporting around.

As Mare put on the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown, it immediately changed its dimensions to fit Mare’s slender fingers. He could not help but stare at the ring on his finger, sighing in relief.

“To be honest I had to stop myself from laughing at the scene because it looked like Momonga was proposing to Mare, we was all kinds of weird.” I noted to myself.

Mare turned to Momonga and bowed deeply.

“Lord Momonga, Lord Tempest, th-thank you for this great gift... I promise that from today onward I will work harder so I do not disappoint either of you!”

“Then, we will trust you with it, Mare.”

“I’ll always have faith in you kid,” I told Mare with a reassuring smile.

“Yes!”

I noticed that a determined look appeared on Mare’s face as he gave his immediate answer.

“Why had Bukubukuchagama-san, who had designed Mare, dressed him like this? Was it to dress him differently from Aura, or was there some other reason?” I questioned internally.

Just as I was pondering my questions, Mare asked a question of his own.

“Ah, excuse me, Momonga-sama… but why are you dressed like that?”

“...Ah, yes about that…”

I had decided to cast [Message] to find out what Momonga had in mind.

[Message] “You got a plan for this situation don’t you Papa Bones? Because if you don’t things are about to get really awkward.”

[Message] “I’m working on it, Donny! It’s not like I can say, ‘Because I wanted to get away!’ That would crush his spirit!—"

[Message] “Yeah, that sounds about accurate.”

Mare’s eyes sparkled as he looked up to the troubled Momonga. How would he bluff his way through this? If he failed here, all the acting he had done to appear like a commanding superior would have gone to waste. No subordinate would respect a superior who was trying to flee.

Momonga seemed to be desperately trying to calm himself down, and then help came from an unexpected source.

“That’s simple, Mare.”

We looked back, and my eyes were instantly drawn to the person I was looking at.

A woman who seemed to be the embodiment of all feminine beauty stood beneath the moonlight. The bluish-white radiance played across her body, which sparkled in response. It was as though a goddess had descended from the heavens to grace the earth. Her black wings flapped, creating a gust of wind.

It was Albedo.

Although Demiurge was behind her, such was Albedo’s beauty that our eyes did not even register Demiurge’s form.

“Lord Momonga wore this armor and concealed his identity because he did not wish to disturb the others at work, and he asked Lord Tempest to escort him for the same reason. He knew Lord Tempest was patrolling around Nazarick and being accompanied by an unknown NPC would not raise suspicion.”

Thank you Albedo! I bet Ainz is glad she showed up.

“When Momonga-sama approaches, it is only natural for everyone to stop whatever they are doing and bow to him. However, Momonga-sama did not wish to interrupt anyone. Thus, he disguised himself as Dark Warrior-sama so the others would not cease in their labors to pay him his due respect. Am I correct, Momonga-sama?”

After hearing Albedo’s question, Momonga nodded repeatedly.

“As, as expected of you Albedo, you understood my true intentions.”

[Message] “Wow! Your getting really good at bluffing Momo. I am seriously impressed.”

[Message] “It was a requirement in ‘PvP’ and it’s a requirement now. Besides, you seem to be getting good at it too Tempest.”  
[Message] “I’m a quick learner.” I told him with a satisfied smirk on my face.

“It is only natural, as the Guardian Overseer. No, even if I were not the Guardian Overseer, I am confident that I could read your heart, Momonga-sama.”

“Technically, he doesn’t have a heart anymore Albedo.” I didn’t think pointing this out to her would change her mind.

As Albedo smiled and bowed deeply, there was a bizarre expression on Demiurge’s face as he stood behind her.

Although it seemed to weigh on his mind, he probably could not object to the people assisting him.

“So, so that’s why…” Mare said, with a look of realization on his face.

“Sure, let’s go with that,” I muttered.

As I looked toward Mare, I saw a sight he could hardly believe was real. Albedo’s eyes had suddenly gone wide open, to the point where it seemed like her eyeballs might fall out. She was pointing at Mare in a strange way.

Just as I was thinking about this, Albedo’s face returned to its usual beautiful state, so quickly that I thought it had all been just an illusion.

“...What’s wrong?” Albedo asked.

“Ah, no, nothing… all right, Mare, sorry for disturbing you. Take a break and continue the camouflage work afterward.”

I’m guessing Momonga noticed Albedo’s strange behavior too.

“Y-Yes! Then, Momonga-sama, I’ll be on my way.”

“Do your best Mare.” I told him.

As Momonga nodded to him, Mare rubbed the ring on his finger and left.

“Speaking of which, why did you come here, Albedo?” Momonga questioned her.

“I heard Demiurge say you and Lord Tempest would be here, so I wished to greet you both, Lord Momonga. However, I apologize for making the Supreme Beings see me in this filthy state.”

We looked at Albedo again as we heard the words “filthy.” However, I did not feel that the words were fitting. Granted, there was some dust on her clothes, but it did not lessen her beauty one bit.

“Certainly not, Albedo. Your radiance could never be diminished by something as insignificant as dirt. That said, I feel a little uncomfortable about making a beautiful maiden like yourself run around. However, since this is an emergency, I must ask you to continue working for Nazarick for the time being. I apologize for that.”

“Yeah, you’re always looking your best Albedo,” I said in an attempt to make her feel better.

“I can endure any hardship as long as it’s for the sake of the Supreme Ones, my lords!”

“We are grateful for your loyalty. Ah, yes… Albedo, I have something to give you.”

“...What might that something be?”

As Albedo lowered her head and calmly replied, Momonga brought out a ring. Naturally, it was a Ring of Ainz of Ooal Gown.

“You will need this item in your position as the Guardian Overseer.”

“...Thank you very much.”

“Okay now this was HILARIOUS! It looked more like he was giving her a wedding ring.” I laughed to myself inside my head.

I’m definitely teasing Momo about this later.

Albedo’s reaction was so different from Mare’s that I was a little disappointed. However, I immediately realized that he was mistaken.

The corner of Albedo’s mouth was twitching, and she was desperately trying not to let her expression change. Her wings were shuddering because she was trying her best not to spread them. The hand which took the ring had clenched up (when had she done that?) and then it opened up, trembling mightily. Even an idiot could see she was excited.

“Oh my God this is all because we had to go and change her settings.” I mentally kicked myself since I realized me and Momo made this mess.

“Continue your loyal service, As for Demiurge… some other time.”

“I understand, Momonga-sama. I shall continue working hard in future to prove myself worthy of such a mighty ring.”

“No. There’ll be none of that,” I said unexpectedly.

I reached into my inventory and pulled out a silver box.

“Tempest? What are you doing?” Momonga asked me.

“Just watch Momo,” I replied quickly.

I opened the box to reveal a Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown.

“I kept this ring in case I needed a spare to replace my ring if I ever lost it, but you can have it Demiurge,” I told the gentlemanly demon.

“Lord Tempest! I couldn’t take such an important item from a Supreme Being.”

“No, I don’t want to hear it! You need this ring more than I do. So, please take it. That’s an order.” I ordered Demiurge because I really didn’t feel like having this argument all night.

“Very well. I am unworthy of such kindness.” Demiurge said as he took the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown from the box and put it on his right ring finger.

“Good. So, now all three of you have rings. Then, I have abandoned the tasks that I must take care of. I’d best return to the Ninth Floor before I get scolded. Tempest, would you kindly escort me back to my suite?” Momonga asked me.

“I live to serve Supreme Overlord!” I replied while saluting.

After seeing Albedo and Demiurge lower their heads in response, we activated the teleportation effect of the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown.

In the instant, before the scenery changed, I thought I heard a lady shouting, “ALL RIGHT!” However, I felt I could’ve been mistaken because there was no way Albedo could have made such a crude sound.

“Then again. I’ve been wrong before.” I noted.

…

Scene Change: Carne Village Outskirts:

They were close to the outskirts of the village.

Enri heard the sound of clanking metal from behind her as she ran. It was a rhythmic sound.

She looked behind with a prayer in her heart — as expected, it was the worst-case scenario. A knight was chasing the Emmot sisters.

Just a little further.

Enri took a deep breath and forced herself to soldier on. She had no energy to waste on anything else.

Her breathing was rapid, her heart beating hard enough that she felt it would burst, and her legs were shaking mightily. Soon enough, she would be completely exhausted, and she would collapse and not get up.

If she were alone, perhaps she might have lost the strength to run and give up.

However, she was holding her little sister’s hand. It gave her the energy to run away.

The truth was that the powerful desire to save her sister had kept Enri going until now.

As she ran, she glanced behind again.

The distance between herself and her pursuer had not changed. Even in armor, the man’s speed had not decreased. This was the difference between a trained warrior and a village girl.

Sweat ran down Enri’s back as her body went cold. If this kept up… she would not be able to escape with her sister.

—Let her go.

Those words echoed through her head.

—Perhaps you could escape by yourself.

—Do you want to die here?

—It might be safer if you split up.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!”

Enri shouted at herself for those thoughts through her clenched teeth.

She was the worst sister imaginable.

Why was her little sister holding her tears back?

It was because she believed in her big sister. She believed her big sister would save her.

As she gripped the hand of her little sister — that hand which gave her the strength to flee and fight on — Enri steeled herself and hardened her resolve.

She would never abandon her sister.

“Ah!”

Enri’s younger sister was as tired as Enri herself. Therefore, she suddenly stumbled, yelped, and almost fell.

The reason why the two of them had not fallen was that they were holding tightly onto each other’s hands. However, Nemu’s near-fall caused Enri to falter herself.

“Faster!”

“Ah, yes!”

Although she wanted to run on, her little sister was starting to cramp up, and she could not move fast. Enri wanted to pick up Nemu and run, but the sounds of metal drawing up beside her filled Enri with fear.

The knight beside her held a bloodstained sword. In addition, his armor and helm were covered in traces of spattered blood.

Enri pushed Nemu behind herself and glared angrily at the knight.

“It’s pointless to struggle.”

There was no compassion in those words. Instead, there was only mockery. Those words implied that running would only end in death anyway.

The anger in Enri’s heart boiled over, and she thought, What was he saying?

The knight raised his sword to Enri, who had stopped moving. However, just before he could swing it down on them—

“Don’t look down on me!”

“Guwaargh!”

—Enri forcefully punched the knight’s metal helmet. That strike carried the anger that filled her and the desire to protect her little sister. She did not care that she was striking metal with her bare hand. She hit him with every ounce of her strength.

There was the sound of something like bones cracking, and soon pain spread throughout Enri’s body. The knight wobbled under the force of the mighty blow.

“Hurry!”

“Yes!”

Enri bit back the pain and made to flee again — and suddenly a line of scorching heat bloomed on her back.

“—Ggk!”

“Damn you!”

The village girl punching the knight in the face had shamed him, hence his anger.

He was swinging his sword wildly, having lost his cool. As a result, his first blow did not cause a mortal wound. However, that was the end of her luck. Enri was hurt, and the knight was filled with rage. The next blow would certainly take her life.

Enri looked at the longsword raised high before her.

Panic was written all over her face as she watched the malevolent gleaming of the terrible swift sword, and she realized two things.

The first was that her life would be over in a few seconds. The second was that an ordinary village girl like herself had no way of fighting that fate.

The tip of the sword was stained with some of her blood. As her heart beat faster, the pain spread through her body, along with the scorching heat of her wound.

The pain she had never felt before filled her with fear and made her want to throw up.

Perhaps vomiting would clear the feeling of nausea that filled her.

However, Enri was looking for a way to live, so she had no time to throw up.

Although she wanted to abandon her struggle, there was a reason why Enri had not given up until now. That was the warmth pressed against her chest — her younger sister.

She had to let her sister live.

That sole thought kept Enri from giving in.

In contrast, the armored knight in front of her seemed to be mocking Enri’s resolve.

The raised sword swung down.

Perhaps it was because all her energies were concentrated here, or because her brain was working overtime because she was on the verge of life and death, but Enri felt that time was passing very slowly, and she desperately tried to think of some way to save her little sister.

However, she could not think of anything. All she could do was use her own body as a shield, letting the blade cleave deeply into herself, in the hope of buying time for her little sister to escape.

As long as she had the strength, she would hang on tightly to the knight or the sword he stuck in her, holding on tight and not letting go until the flame of her life guttered out.

If she could do that. she would gladly accept her fate.

Enri smiled, as though she were a martyr.

As a big sister, this was all she could do for Nemu. The thought made Enri smile.

Could Nemu escape the hell that was Carne Village by herself?

Even if she fled into the forest, she might run into patrols of soldiers. However, as long as she could survive, there was a possibility of escape. In order to give her little sister the chance to survive, Enri would bet her life — no, she would bet everything.

That said, the idea of being hurt again frightened her, so she closed her eyes. In this world of darkness, she prepared herself for the pain that would come—

…

Scene Change: Nazarick:

I woke up in the massive bed in my suite. I had just slept in it for the first time since the shutdown had occurred. It was really large and very soft.

After my trip with Ainz outside I headed back to my suite and removed my sword, suit of armor, and [Ring of Sustenance] to get a good night’s sleep because I figured it was about time to get some rest.

I wanted to be alone for the night, so I sent Toro help his elder brother Heretic in his medical office.

I dragged myself out of bed, after stretching my arms and yawning I started walking to the bathroom in my room to wash my face and get the sleep out of my eyes.

Apparently even dragon eyes get sleep crust in them.

I turned on the cold tap on the sink.

“How does an underground tomb even have running water? Probably magic.” I tried to rationalize.

I then looked into the fairly large mirror on the wall to see my face.

My human face.

Wait, what?

I did a double take and realized that yes, my face was in fact human. It actually looked a lot like my real face, except younger looking.

Best guess is I was shapeshifting in my sleep. But how?

Oh wait, I remember. After removing , my armor, and the [Ring of sustenance] I immediately fell flat on my face onto the bed. I’m guessing I was really exhausted from not sleeping for several days.

After a while, I tried to lay on my back, like I do at home, but I couldn’t turn over because of my tail and wings.

After some time, I found myself being able to lay on my back. The exhaustion and relief made me instantly fall asleep and not bother to question the unexpected change.

After calming down I dried off my face and went to the main room where my bed is so I could use the body length mirror by the bed.

There’s a king-sized black divan bed, with silk blue sheets along with about 4 soft pillows, at the top middle side of the room. The divan bed is made of 2 main parts that join together via a bracket. The base of the divan bed is constructed with wooden material and sits on the floor directly. The bed base is almost 3 feet high with a lifting cover and provides ample space to store bedroom items in an organized way. There is a body length mirror by the right side the bed and a dresser on the left side of the bed.

It was the best bed I ever slept in.

After examining my room, I stood in front of my mirror and got a good look at my human form.

I was wearing only the black boxers I had on when I went to sleep.

Though, that wasn’t what bothered me. What bothered me is that I was short and felt uncomfortable in this form. It felt as if this form was a pair of pants that was three sizes too small for me to wear.

I felt like this when I first turned into a human days ago, but I thought I would get use to it. Maybe it just takes more time to get comfortable in this form?

I was able change form in YGGDRASIL because it was a common trait for Heteromorphic races like Demons and Doppelgängers, such as Demiurge and Belle respectively.

It was different for me because unlike Doppelgängers my stats and skills didn’t change while I was in human form.

I just couldn’t equip my Armor of the Thunderer and Jörmungandr.

Which completely bites since I’m a warrior-focused fighter.

I couldn’t wield my armor and sword in YGGDRASIL either. I was told it was an error that couldn’t be fixed.

What bullshit.

I could use the spell [Create Greater Item] to make a weapon, but the swords that spell created just weren’t the same as Jörmungandr. Not to mention they were 2 ranks down, only being a relic-class item.

My Dragon form however, increased my stats by a sizable margin and allowed me to cast certain spells like [Judgement of Asgard] an exclusive Dragon-only super-tier spell that causes massive magic air damage, but my Dragon Form had a 72-hour Cooldown.

I usually prefer to cause damage with physical attacks, like from bladed weapons.

When I changed form in YGGDRASIL, my appearance didn’t change, I just received a buff.

I couldn’t change my height because I tried that already dies ago and I failed. So, I’ll just change back to my Dragonoid for.

Closing my eyes, I thought back to the day I first changed forms and thought about my Dragonoid form.

Soon after, I felt something ripple across my body and I opened my eyes to see a yellow Dragonoid in the mirror, still in armor and wielding Jörmungandr on my back. And my discomfort from earlier was gone.

I then put my armor and my sword in my inventory, leaving me in only my black boxers, because I wanted to do something.

I wanted to show Momo my human form, so I sent him a [Message].

[Message] “ Yo Momonga.”

[Message] “Tempest? Is everything alright?”

[Message] “Yeah, but I was calling to ask you if you wanted to see my human form?”

[Message] “Human form? Oh, right. You mentioned you had one. Very well, you can find me in the Throne Room.”

[Message] “Got it. See you soon.” I ended the chat.

I felt the same ripple going through my body again but this time I can’t my eyes open. I saw my body contort and writhe, my wings going inside my back along with my horns shortening and going inside my head, my tail shrank and disappeared, hair grew, and my eyes and pupils became less reptilian and more rounded like human eyes.

Then I noticed I became a short human again, wearing only black boxers.

I cast [Create Greater Item] to make silk white mage robe appear over my body.

I remembered that the only places where the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown could not teleport its wearer to was the Throne Room and the various guild members’ personal rooms. So, I resorted to walking.

I managed to reach the Throne Room on the 10th floor without bumping into anyone, when I arrived there I saw Momonga sitting on his throne with his head down and he was holding the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown in his right hand, I walked quietly over to him and stood by his right side.

“Hey Momonga! I’m here!” I yelled to get his attention. My voice sounded like it belonged to a 13-year-old.

Momonga’s head instantly shot up and he stood up from his throne.

“Tempest! Where are you?!” He asked.

“I’m over here.”

Momonga turned to his right, looking above me, trying to find a Dragonoid that wasn’t there.

“Down here, genius,” I said, 

Momonga became startled and looked down on me. When he looked at me, his jaw bone gaped, and his red pupils flared up in confusion.

“Hi,” I said. “My human form works.”

“I…can see that. Why are you so small?”

“No idea.” I snorted. “Let’s just forget my height, or lack thereof, for a minute. What are you doing now?”

“Well, I was going to meet the Pleiades here.”

“Sounds perfect. Can you tell them I’ll be waiting for them alongside you in the Throne Room? But can you not mention my human form to them?”

“Okay? But very well, I’ll do so immediately,” Momonga turned away from me for a few minutes while putting his skeletal right hand on his hand then he looked back at me.

“I have just informed the Pleiades that you are. But how come you didn’t want them to know about your human form?” Momonga asked me in a puzzled tone.

“I want to try out my human form on them.”

“Is that wise? They… don’t exactly like humans.”

I shrugged, “I need to find out if I can fool others into thinking I’m just a regular human. You never know when it’ll come in handy.” I crossed my arms, “I’m not changing back.” I stated firmly.

“Fine. But what do you plan to do if this plays out badly with the Pleiades?”

“Like if they attack me?” I thought about my answer before responding, “I’ll just defend myself. My stats haven’t changed in this form, so I should be able to hold them off long enough for you to explain things to them. Besides, why are you meeting with the Pleiades anyway Aren’t they busy with their other duties?”

“Sebas ordered them to guard us,” Momonga sighed deeply, “Honestly, this is suffocating.”

“Sounds peachy,” I muttered sarcastically, “Maybe this is a bad idea,” I said as the Pleiades entered while I hid behind Momonga.

“It’s too late now.” He whispered to me as the Pleiades stepped forward in a straight line then bowed.

Momonga sat back down on his throne then the Pleiades lifted their heads up from bowing.

“Good morning Lord Momonga and Lord Tem-“ They started to say before seeing me and Momonga. They stared intensely at me as the atmosphere in the room dropped like an anvil.

The Pleiades stared at me with blank looks that quickly turned hostile, except for Yuri Alpha who just seemed perplexed by my presence and CZ and Entoma since their faces don’t make expressions.

I just stared at the Pleiades with an anxious look.

“You lowly worm,” I heard Narberal say to me with a cool voice full of hatred, “You dare taint these sacred halls and stand next to Lord Momonga with your filthy presence?! You miserable grub. I don’t know how you snuck in here, but I shall cleanse Nazarick of your existence!” She spat at me as her hands started generating static electricity.

I wasn’t worried since I had passive skills that can protect me from electricity. But wow.

I expected some kind of reaction, maybe even a little hostility but not murderous rage.

This is just too intense.

Apparently the residents of Nazarick don’t like humans or anyone outside of Nazarick.

This could be problematic in the future.

I could see that Momonga was just as surprised as me at what Narberal said as he stared at her with his red pupils lit up in surprise.

“Can I keep his arm for later? I didn’t eat breakfast this morning-“ said by Entoma, who was standing behind Narberal, in a cute voice.

I was not expecting that at all.

“Enough!” Momonga commanded Narberal who seemed eager to roast me with lighting.

Narberal and the rest of the Pleiades turned their heads to look at Momonga with bewildered expressions.

“B-but Lord Momonga! He’s human, an inferior lower life form! And an intruder! We, the Pleiades, mus-“ Narberal shouted, confused by what Momonga said.

Okay, this was getting out of control.

“That’s it. This has gone on long enough.” I yelled, interrupting Narberal’s ranting, she glared at me in absolute loathing.

“Watch your tongue, you pathetic piece of tra-” Narberal started saying but then I felt a familiar ripple inside of me and then I turned back into my Dragonoid form in front of the Pleiades and Ainz.

Now that I was back to my full glory I stared at the Pleiades who looked completely floored by what just happened except for Entoma and Shizu who’s faces still held the same expressions, but the way they went stilled told me they were frozen in shock as well.

“Hello, ladies. How are all of you doing on this fine morning?” I asked them while smiling as they still gawked at me in surprise.

“Wh-bu-buh-” Narberal sputtered while red-faced, looking at me with her eyes so wide I was amazed they stayed in her sockets.

She then dropped her head before bowing so deep that her head would hit the floor if she went any lower.

“Lord Tempest! My sincerest apologies! I didn’t know it was you, if I had any knowledge then I wouldn’t hav-”

Laughing, I said, “Just relax Narberal. I’m not upset over a few insults. In fact, I should apologize for playing a trick on all of you. I didn’t expect you to react so…intensely, but I’m overjoyed to see you all care greatly about the sanctity of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.”

Even if it is to an obsessive degree. But I don’t want to spoil their mode any more than I already have.

Sheesh, are all the NPCs this disdainful of humans? How inconvenient.

“B-but, Lord Tempest,” Narberal raised her head, her face was still blushing, “What I said to a Supreme Being such as you is unforgivable! You have no reason to apologize! Instead, it should be me!”

“Calm down Narberal.” Momonga said to stop her “Tempest is at fault here. He knew this might happen, but he did it anyway, so there is no need for anyone to apologize.”

“B-but I,” She looked at Momo then at me before sighing and bowing to us once again, “It is as you wish, Lord Momonga.”

“Good. And as for you Tempest,” Momonga said as he turned his head to me, “Until everyone in Nazarick knows about your human form, you’re not allowed to change forms in Nazarick.”

I shrugged, “If you say so. Can we go now?”

“Yes. We have much work to do. Let us head my office.” Momonga said before standing up from his throne and walking out of the Throne Room. I walked beside him on his left and the Pleiades walked behind us, fanned out a little to cover our backs.

We walked in silence for several minutes, the only sounds that could be heard were maid shoes and Momonga’s Staff tapping the marble floor.

Honestly, having people constantly worry about you was indeed ‘suffocating’. I feel sorry for Momonga’s if it’s always like this.

The constant on edge attitudes of the maids and other NPCs makes me feel uncomfortable, I know they’d object if either me or Momonga tried to stop them.

I looked back at Narberal who had an expression that conveyed great regret.

I couldn’t leave her like this.

“Narberal, would you like to make amends for your prior insults,” I asked her, seeing her jump from surprise and then look at me.

“Yes, I do Lord Tempest. I shall carry out whatever order you give me without hesitation or remorse.” Narberal shouted out loud and without a hint of shame.

I noticed Lupusregina sport a huge grin on her face and looked between me and Narberal.

“Oh, it’s nothing serious.” I told her and Lupusregina’s grin instantly vanished as it was replaced with a look of crushed expectations, “I just want you to answers some questions I have. They’re very important questions.”

Narberal had a look of disappointment on her face but it disappeared the next second and was replaced with devoted attention.

I didn’t know why Narberal was disappointed or why Lupusregina was giggling, but none of that was important. I needed to know if I could pass for human.

“When you first saw me in my human form, you thought I was an intruder. Why?”

Narberal blinked as if she wasn’t expecting such an obvious question but she answered anyway, “Because I believed you were a human?”

Gee, I guess I’m that good.

“That’s good, but we’re on the 10th floor of Nazarick right now, plus I was beside Momonga. Why did you jump to the conclusion of me being an invader so quickly?”

“Well…” Narberal bit her lip as she thought, “I suppose it’s because of many things. The first was that I possessed no knowledge of your abilities so I was unaware you can change forms. While Nazarick is warded against teleportation magic and due to the efforts of sister Aureole Omega, it’s impossible to teleport into Nazarick without her knowledge, I did not consider that. My only thoughts were about eliminating all threats to Nazarick and the Supreme Beings.”

“I appreciate your honesty. But what about Momonga? Don’t you think he would’ve eliminated me if I were an intruder?” I asked. It’s not like Momo would miss a human in Nazarick.

“I just thought Lord Momonga wouldn’t bother noticing a bug and leave it to us to remove,” Narberal said without thinking before she covered up her mouth after realizing she had just insulted a Supreme Being yet again.

The Pleiades looked at her in horror.

“I-I’m so sor-” Narberal began apologizing profusely.

“Don’t start Narberal. I’m not upset. I know you didn’t mean to offend.” I told her in a soft tone.

“However, there is one more question I’d like to ask you all.”

All of them looked at each other confused, “What do you ask of us, Lord Tempest?” Yuri asked me.

“If you saw me in my human form while outside of Nazarick and you didn’t know I could change forms, would you think I was just an average human?”

I needed to know if my human form was convincing. If the residents of Nazarick couldn’t tell who I was while I was in my human form then it was likely regular humans would mistake me for one of them.

With my human form, I could go to the nearest human settlement and ask for information without causing a panic.

Looking at each other, I could tell that the Pleiades were thinking of an answer to my question, as well as wondering why I would ever want to use my human form, but they choose not to ask.

After a minute, Yuri Alpha said to me, “Yes. If we didn’t know it was you, Lord Tempest, we would think you were just an average human while in that form.”

I smiled in satisfaction from hearing that.

“I guess my experiment was a success.” I mentally gloated.

“Thank you for your time. Your help is always appreciated.”

“Serving the Supreme Beings is what we were created for, Lord Tempest.” Yuri Alpha said as all the Pleiades bowed to me and Momo.

Wow. I’m not going to lie, having 6 lovely ladies smile at me just brightened my day.

“Tempest and I will be discussing some important matters in my office for a while,” Momonga told the maids as he opened the doors to his office, “While we’re here, spread word to the others of Tempest’s human form so we’ll avoid any misunderstandings like the one that occurred this morning.”

“Understood, Lord Momonga. Farewell.” Yuri said, bowing along with the rest of the combat maids.

…

Scene Change: Pleiades:

The Pleiades stayed bowing until they head the doors close with a click. Yuri Alpha, the vice-captain of the Pleiades, was the first to rise and she looked at her younger sisters who also stood up from their positions.

“We have been given our orders by Lord Momonga, We need to inform all the residents of Nazarick of Lord Tempest’s human form in order to avoid an unfortunate repeat of Narberal’s and Entoma’s mistake this morning,” Yuri said while glaring at Narberal who was blushing and Entoma who just stared at the floor.

“I-I only acted as any of us would. How would I have known that Lord Tempest could change into a human form?” Narberal said in an attempt to defend her actions.

“And what of Entoma? She threatened to eat his arm.” Narberal pointed at the Arachnoid maid, who was trying really hard to avoid being noticed.

“I-I just wanted to have something to eat…” Entoma said with her head still down.

“Yet, you would still be eating him.” Shizu Delta said in a monotone voice. Her words cut through Entoma’s barely held composure and she grabbed the mask-shaped insect on her face, trying to avoid looking embarrassed.

“Never mind that~su. I would like to know why Narberal looked so disappointed when Lord Tempest said he only wanted to ask her questions. Could she have wanted something else su~?” Lupu asked with a perverted grin on her face.

“Oh, now that I remember, I did notice that as well. Is there anything you’d like to say, Narberal?” Solution Epsilon asked in a cool voice as she raised her left eyebrow.

“I-I,” Narberal stammered for an answer, “I was not trying to seduce Lord Tempest if that is what all of you are implying! I just wanted to make up for my actions toward him! Nothing more!”

“Really? So, you didn’t want Lord Tempest to grab-” Lupusregina Beta started to say but then a loud clap from Yuri interrupted her and caught everyone’s attention.

“Before all of you get carried away with teasing Entoma and Narberal, I’d like to remind you that we have been ordered by Lord Momonga,” Yuri said in a stern tone to them, trying to reign in her younger sisters’ behavior and get them to focus on the task at hand.

“We need to go around Nazarick and inform everyone of Lord Tempest’s human form, so they won’t attack him. Now, all of you pick a floor and inform the respective floor guardians there. We shall meet at this spot after we’re done.

All of the Pleiades bowed to their leader and said:

“Understood, Vice-Captain Yuri Alpha.” They all headed off to complete the assignment given to them.

…

Scene Change: Momonga and Tempest in Ainz’s office:

“Well, that was fun. There’s no better way to start the morning than nearly getting hit with lighting and having someone want to bite your arm off.” I said as I sat down on a huge armchair that was opposite the desk where Momonga was sitting.

Momonga’s office is a big room with only one desk where Momo was sitting and there were a few cabinets on the walls and besides the white flags holding the purple symbol of the guild Ainz Ooal Gown, there wasn’t much in here in the form of decoration.

“Indeed, that was…something. To be honest, I can’t tell what’s more surprising. What Narberal said or what Entoma intended to do, but it did provide us with insight into how the NPCs view beings that aren’t from Nazarick.” He told me as he settled down and put the Staff into his inventory.

“I hope that sort of behavior isn’t common. But no matter. Check this out.”

I stoop up from my chair and felt a familiar ripple going through me as I changed into my Dragonoid form. I was equipped with my armor, helmet, and Jörmungandr.

“So that’s how you change.” Momonga said in an intrigued tone as he placed his finger on his chin.

“Yeah. It’s pretty impressive. So, what do you want to do now?”

“Well, I wanted to give the Mirror of Remote Viewing a try to see if it still works in this world.”

“Cool. I’ll help you. But can you call Sebas and Toro to join us as our ‘escorts’ so the NPCs stop worrying about our safety?” I asked in an almost pleading tone, I was not looking forward to any smothering from them in the future.

He shrugged his shoulders, “Very well, I’ll send a [Message] to both of them.”

I sat down and waited for several minutes as Momonga sent his message.

“They’re on their way.” Momonga informed me as he turned to look at me.

And just like that, the door opened and Sebas and Toro walked in.

They both bowed and said in unison, “Greetings Supreme Ones.”

“Apologies for not being there to attend to you in your room this morning master,” Toro said.

“It’s alright Toro. Did the Pleiades tell you both about my human form?” I asked out of necessary curiosity.

“Indeed, they did Lord Tempest,” Sebas informed me.

“Good,” Momonga said. “Right now, I and Tempest want to use the Mirror of Remote Viewing and we would like for both of you to stay here and guard us.”

“Consider it done Lord Momonga,” Toro said while bowing.

Sebas and Toro then stood up to begin guarding us.

Me and Momonga moved to sit on the chairs and looked at the mirror before us. The roughly one-meter wide mirror did not reflect Momonga’s face, but a patch of grass. The mirror was like a television set, showing images of a distant plain.

The grass of the plains swayed in the wind, proving it was not a still image.

As time passed, the sun slowly rose, its light banishing the darkness that covered the plains. This pastoral scene, almost poetic in its beauty, was a stark difference from the former location of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the desolate world of Helheim.

Momonga reached out to the mirror and swiped his hand right. The mirror’s image changed.

This was a Mirror of Remote Viewing.

This was a magic item used to display an image of a specific region. It was a very useful item for player-killers or player-killer-killers. However, there were low-level spells that occluded information-gathering spells that could hide people from the mirror’s eyes. In addition, it was easy for users to be counterattacked by offensive barriers, so it was an average item at best.

However, for the present circumstances, an item that could show the outside world was a very useful item indeed.

I couldn’t help but enjoy the movie-like quality of the grass within the mirror as the image changed.

“It would seem that I can move the image with a wave of the hand. That way, I won’t have to keep looking at the same spot.” Momonga said.

The scenery and the angles with which it was viewed changed within the floating mirror. Although he had made several mistakes so far, Momonga kept changing his gestures to alter the landscape within the mirror, hoping that he would find someone. However, up till now, he had not found any intelligent beings — for instance, humans.

He repeated the same simple gestures over and over again, but all the images he got were the same: plains. Momonga was starting to get bored, so he looked at the other person in the room.

“What’s wrong, Lord Momonga? I stand ready to heed your every command.” Sebas said.

“As do I my lord.” Toro stated.

“No, there’s nothing, you two.”

Sebas might have been smiling, but his words seemed to hold some kind of subtext. Although Sebas was absolutely loyal to us, he had objected to our excursion to the surface without bringing our followers along.

Indeed, just after Momonga returned from the surface, he told me that Sebas had accosted and lectured him.

“What will I do with him…” I heard Momonga mutter.

Being with Sebas made me think of our guildmate Touch Me. After all, Touch Me-san was the one who had designed Sebas.

Now that guy was a badass, he was one of the few players in the entire game who had acquired the [World Champion] job class.

“Still, he didn’t have to make him so similar to himself. Even the way Sebas gets angry reminds me of him.” I mused.

After grumbling in my heart, I looked back to the mirror.

Momonga told me that his plan was to teach Demiurge the hard-learned lessons of how to control the magic mirror. This must be what Momonga had meant when he spoke to Demiurge about another security net.

Although it would have been simpler to leave this task to our subordinates, we wanted to handle this task personally. The truth was that we wanted to use our can-do working attitudes to inspire and gain the respect of our subordinates. Therefore, we could not be seen to give up halfway. Still, why can’t I switch to a higher vantage point? If only there were a manual… With these thoughts in mind, I watched Momonga go about the painstaking work of figuring the mirror’s controls out by boring, repetitive trial and error.

I did not know how long it had been.

It might have only been a while, but so far our work had not borne fruit, and I could not help but feel like this was all a waste of time.

Momonga casually waved his hand with a vacant expression, and his field of vision suddenly expanded.

“Oh!”

Surprise, delight, pride, Momonga’s exclamation was filled with all of these. At his wit’s end, he made a random gesture and the screen suddenly did as he wanted. This was a cry of joy one would expect out of a programmer who had pulled eight hours’ worth of overtime.

Cheering and clapping answered him. The source of these two sounds was Sebas and Toro.

“Congratulations, Lord Momonga. Your servant Sebas stands in awe of your prowess.”

“Very impressive my lord.” Toro said.

Smirking, I decided to clap too in order to congratulate my buddy.

“Nice work Bone Man.”

Granted, this was the fruit of extensive trial and error, so maybe we don’t need to go this far. I thought that, but when I saw that Sebas and Toro looked quite happy, I decided to humbly offer my own praise.

“Thank you, Tempest, Sebas, and Toro. Although I apologize for making you both accompany us for so long.”

“What are you saying? Staying by your side and obeying your orders is the reason for a butler’s existence, Lord Momonga. There is no need to thank or apologize to us… although, it is true that this process took quite some time. Lord Momonga, would you like to take a break?”

“If you require food and refreshments we will gladly provide.” Toro offered.

“No, there is no need for that. An undead like myself is not affected by negative statuses like fatigue or hunger or thirst. If either of you are tired, you may go and rest.”

“Duh, you guys.” I thought.

“Thank you for your kindness, but it would be unthinkable for a butler to rest while his master worked. With the aid of magic items, we are not affected by fatigue either. Please allow me and Toro to stay by the side of you two until the end, Lord Momonga.” Sebas said.

I realized one thing from Momonga’s conversations with the NPCs; namely, they casually used game terms in their speech. For instance, skills, job classes, items, levels, negative statuses, and so on. If he could use game terms with them in an unironic way, it might be easier to give them orders.

After agreeing to Sebas’ request, Momonga continued studying the ways to control the mirror. Finally, he discovered a method to adjust the height of his viewpoint.

Momonga began looking for a populated area.

Finally, an image of something like a village appeared in the mirror.

It was located roughly ten kilometers south of Nazarick. There was a forest nearby, and wheat fields surrounded a settlement. It appeared to be a rustic farming village. By the looks of things, the village itself was not very developed.

As Momonga zoomed in on the village, I felt that something was amiss.

“...Are they holding a festival?”

People were running in and out of their houses this early in the morning. They looked panicked.

I leaned forward to get a better view on what was going on in the village.

What I saw made my blood boil.

“That doesn’t look like festival Momo. The villagers are running away in fear. I’ve seen plenty of movies and video games with similar scenes. They ended with everyone dead.”

“No, that is not a festival as Lord Tempest says.”

That steely voice came from Sebas, who was watching the display with a keen look in his eye as he stood beside Momonga.

There was an undercurrent of disgust in Sebas’ stern words.

“Attacking those who are unable to fight back? These cowards are NOT warriors!” Toro spat with disdain.

I do remember that I programmed Toro to be a vicious fighter but one with a sense of honor who prefers not harming anyone he thought couldn’t fight back.

As Momonga enlarged the image, he too seemed to have furrowed his nonexistent brows.

Fully armored knights were swinging their longswords at the villagers, who were dressed in rough clothes.

It was a massacre.

“I was right. It is a bloodbath.” I couldn’t help but make an angry sneer at how little these people’s lives meant to those armored bastards.

A villager fell with every swing of a knight’s sword. The villagers could not resist them and could only run away. The knights pursued and killed the fleeing villagers. There were horses eating the grain in the field. Those horses must have belonged to the knights.

“Cheh!”

Momonga scoffed, looking like he was intending to change the image. This village seemed to hold no value to him. If he could extract more information from it, perhaps he might have a reason to save them. But as things stood, there was no reason to save this village.

“Hopefully he’s not thinking of abandoning this village. He seems oddly unconcerned.” I thought.

Momonga was taken aback by how he could make such a heartless decision. A cruel slaughter was occurring before his eyes, but the only thing he seemed to think of these days was the good of Nazarick. In him, I could see there was nothing like pity, anger, or worry, basic human emotions anyone should have.

It felt like he was watching a TV show about animals and insects, where the strong ate the weak.

Could it be that as one of the undead, he no longer considered himself part of humanity?

No, how could that be?

Momonga seemed to struggle himself to find an excuse to justify his thinking.

He was not an agent of justice after all. None of us were.

He was level one hundred, but like he had told Mare, this world’s commoners might well be level one hundred as well. Therefore, none of us could not tread blindly into this unknown world. Although it looked like the knights were conducting a one-sided slaughter of the villagers, there might be other reasons at work here which we did not know about. Reasons like “illness, judgement, setting an example,” and others like them kept appearing in his mind. And if he stepped in and defeated the knights, he might earn the ire of the country they belonged to.

Momonga stretched out his bony hand and rubbed his skull as though he were thinking. Could it be that after becoming an undead being who was immune to mind-affecting effects, he had become inured to scenes like this? Definitely not.

He waved his hand again, showing a scene from another part of the village.

It seemed like two knights were trying to pull a violently struggling villager off another knight. The man was pulled away, his arms were held, and he was rendered motionless where he stood. Before our eyes, the man was stabbed with a sword. The blade entered his body and exited from the other side of him. It should have been a fatal blow, but the longsword did not stop. One, two, three strikes — the knight seemed to be taking out his anger on the villager as he hacked at the man’s body.

In the end, the knight kicked away the villager, who collapsed to the ground while spurting his blood into the air.

“What a dick.” This was my opinion of the knight.

—The villager looked straight at us. No, this might have just been a coincidence.

It was definitely a coincidence.

There was no way for anyone to detect the mirror’s surveillance apart from anti-divination spells.

Frothy blood leaked from the villager’s mouth as he tried to open his mouth. His eyes were unfocused, and I could not tell where he was looking. Even so, with what may have been his dying breaths, he gasped his last words:

—Please save my daughter—

“What do you intend to do Lord Momonga?”

Sebas seemed to have been waiting for this moment to speak.

There could only be one answer. Momonga replied coldly:

“Nothing. There is no reason, value or benefit in rescuing them.”

“What?” I asked wondering how he could say something so cruel.

“—Understood.” I heard Sebas say in a reluctant tone.

“—Yes, my lord,” Toro stated in an upset voice.

I for one would not take this sitting down.

I stood up from my chair.

“Momo, why don’t you want to help them? Doesn’t this carnage upset you?” I asked him in a confused tone.

“Honestly Tempest. No. I don’t know why but for some reason I don’t feel disgusted when I see these people die.”

“Think. What would our friend Touch Me do?” I asked him a little crossly.

Momonga thought about my question then nonchalantly looked at Sebas — at the phantom image of his past guildmate.

“This… Touch Me-san…” He muttered.

Just then, Momonga said something that Touch Me used to say:

“—Saving someone in trouble is common sense.” Momo said.

Momonga told me that when he had just started out in YGGDRASIL, hunting down characters of heteromorphic races was a common practice, and Momonga, who had chosen such a race, had been PKed countless times. Just when he was about to leave YGGDRASIL, those words, spoken by that man, had saved him.

If not for those words, Momonga would not be here.

Peroroncino was also hunted for choosing a Birdman heteromorphic race, we became friends and guild mates after I helped him kill the players attacking him then he welcomed me into Ainz Ooal Gown.

Momonga sighed softly, and then he smiled. Now that he had recalled that memory, he had no choice but to go save them.

“We should go help them Momo. At least for Touch Me’s memory.” I said in a calmer voice.

“I will repay that debt… besides, sooner or later, I’ll have to test my fighting strength in this world. Tempest do you want to help me?”

After saying that to his absent friend, Momonga enlarged the view of the village until he saw everything. After that, he tried to pick out the surviving villagers.

I smiled and said, “Hell yes! It’s about time I get to do some real fighting in this world.”

“Sebas, put Nazarick on maximum alert. We will go first, and you will tell Albedo, who is standing by next door, to follow us after fully equipping herself. However, I forbid her to bring Ginnungagap. After that, prepare support units. Something might happen which results in our inability to retreat. Therefore, the units sent to the village should be adept at stealth or have the ability to go invisible.”

“The Eight-Edge Assassins would be a good choice then.” I suggested.

“I understand, but I wish to request the task of defending your body to be given to me.”

“Then who will relay my orders? These knights are currently sacking the village, which means there might be knights near Nazarick who might attack us. Therefore, you must stay.”

“Also, Toro. Tell your sister Lucifer to go with Albedo to the village. We could use her healing magic.” I said to my NPC.

“I will go inform her immediately master.” Toro said with a bow then walked out of Momonga’s office.

“Now, give me a minute Skeletor.” After I said that, I used glamour magic to hide my tail and wings. With my armor and helmet on, now I just look like a really big human wearing a suit of armor. I can’t risk anyone finding out I’m a Dragonoid, that’ll just put a target on my back.

Momonga just nodded. I guess he didn’t see any point in asking questions since we were in a hurry.

The image changed, and now it showed a girl sending a knight flying with a punch. The girl was leading an even younger girl as they ran away. They were probably sisters. Momonga immediately opened his inventory and withdrew the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.

Just as the girl planned to flee, she was slashed in the back. Since time was tight, Momonga swiftly casted the spell.

“「Gate」.”

It had no limits on distance and a 0% chance of teleport mishaps.

The spell Momonga used was the most accurate and potent of such spells in YGGDRASIL.

The scene before us changed in an instant.

After this, I followed Momonga instantly into the portal.

The fact that the opposition had not used teleport-blocking filled me with relief. If he was denied the chance to rescue them, and was ambushed instead, it would have been bad.

…

Scene Change: Carne Village Outskirts:

After me and Momo crossed the [Gate], the scene before our eyes were the same as what we had seen earlier.

I stepped outside of the portal and stood directly behind Momonga.

Two terrified girls were in front of us.

The one who looked like the elder sister had a braid of straw-blonde hair that reached down to her breasts. Her skin, healthily tanned from working in the sun, was now deathly pale from fear, and her dark eyes were wet with tears.

The little sister — the younger girl — buried her face in her sister’s waist, trembling in fright.

I wanted to make these fake knights feel the same fear they inflicted on these girls. I wanted them to know what it felt like to face a monster that had no intention of showing mercy.

Momonga and I gazed coldly at the knight standing before the two girls.

Perhaps the man was shocked by our sudden appearance, but the knight simply stared at Momonga, having apparently forgotten to swing the sword he was holding.

I already knew what to say to them, “Pathetic! You so-called men have no problem killing unarmed people but instantly freeze like cowards when facing an unknown opponent?!”

I spat this sentence to the knights’ faces with a surprising amount of spite and venom.

“So, here’s what’s going to happen. We’ll kill you in the most painful way we can think of, doesn’t that sound nice?” I said sarcastically with mock politeness.

Momonga could probably feel the anger radiating from me but he shrugged it off quickly.

I knew for a fact that Momonga had grown up without knowing the touch of violence on his life. I did not think that the world in which we currently resided was a simulation, but the real thing, Even so, I did not feel the slightest bit of fear at the knight before my friend who held a sword. And I felt Momonga had a similar feeling.

The calmness seemed to have allowed Momo to make a cold, cruel decision.

Momonga reached out an empty hand and cast his spell.

“「Grasp Heart」.”

This spell was one that crushed a foe’s heart, and among the ten tiers of spells, it was an instant death spell of the Ninth Tier. Many of the necromantic spells that Momonga was adept with possessed instant death properties, and this was one of them.

I think Momonga had chosen to open with this spell because even if it was resisted, the spell would still temporarily stun his opponent.

If the spell had been resisted, we could have just taken the two girls and jump back into the still open 「Gate」. He must’ve already planned his route of retreat since we were not sure what our opponents could do.

However, it would seem those preparations would not be necessary.

The knight collapsed silently to the ground

We looked down upon the fallen knight.

It would seem that even killing someone did not stir any emotions within my friend.

There was no guilt, fear, or confusion in his heart, which was like the surface of a calm lake. Why was it like this?

A pity I did not have any answers.

“I see… so it’s not just my body, but my mind that’s no longer human.” I heard Momonga mutter.

“What? You’re still a human deep down Momo.” I thought out of fear that my friend was changing for the worse.

Momonga took a step forward.

The elder sister squeaked in confusion as me and Momonga walked past her, probably in fear at the knight’s demise.

We had clearly come to rescue her. However, the girl was seemingly confused by Momonga’s sudden appearance and actions. What was she thinking?

“It’s most likely that she’s scared of us. A talking skeleton and armored behemoth will do that to a person.” I thought.

Although I had his doubts, I did not have time to worry about them. After verifying the wounds on the elder sister’s back through her tatty old clothes, Momonga put the girls behind him, and glared at a knight who had just emerged from a nearby house.

The knight saw Momonga as well and took a step back in fear.

“...So, you dare to chase girls, but not someone who can fight back?”

“Like I told you, they’re so pathetic they don’t even deserve to be called warriors.” I pointed out. “But if I’m here, I should try a spell too. If you don’t mind of course my friend.

“Do as you please Tempest.”

“Gladly.” I said while sporting a nasty smirk underneath my helmet.

As I stared down the quivering knight, I considered what spell to use next.

Momonga’s opening spell was one that he particularly favored, 「Grasp Heart」. This sort of magic was Momonga’s specialty. Momonga had used his innate skills to increase the chances of instant death, and his necromancy-enhancing abilities improved the effectiveness of 「Grasp Heart」 even further. However, it meant that he could not gauge the strength of that knight.

Therefore, I should use an air spell against this knight, something that did not instantly kill him. This way, I could measure the strength of this world and verify my own power.

“—Since I’ve come all this way, I might as well run a few experiments. You shall make a good test subject.” I said

Momonga’s necromancy spells were augmented, but the simple attack spells he used were not very destructive. In addition, since metal armor was weak against electrical effects in YGGDRASIL, most people enchanted their plate armor with electricity resistance. Therefore, I deliberately chose to attack my foe with an electrical spell to see how much damage it would do.

Because my aim was not to kill my opposition, there was no need to enhance its effects with skills.

“「Dragon Lightning」.”

A dragon-shaped bolt of white electricity crackled around my arms and shoulders. The bolt flared brightly as it instantly surged out at the knight I was pointing at.

There was no way to avoid it or defend against it.

The knight who had been electrocuted by the dragon-shaped lightning bolt shone brilliantly for an instant. Miserable as his death was, it was still a beautiful sight.

The light in his eyes faded, and the knight collapsed to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The body beneath the armor was charred black and gave off a vile stench.

I had been planning to follow up with another spell, but he felt silly as he noted the weakness of the knights.

“Pathetic… he died so easily…”

“No kidding. He died like a noob. He must be level 5, level 10 at best.”

To me, the fifth-tier 「Dragon Lightning」 was a weak spell. Even though it was augmented by my race and job classes. When hunting level one hundred players, I would usually cast spells of the eighth tier and higher. Magic of the fifth-tier and below would almost never see use.

Now that he knew the knights were weak enough to be finished off by fifth-tier magic, Momonga’s tension vanished in an instant. Of course, it could be that these two knights were especially weak among their kind, but still, it was a great relief. Still, the plan to retreat with magic had not changed.

These knights might be focused on offense. In YGGDRASIL, a blow to the neck counted as a critical hit and dealt extra damage, but in the real world, it might well be fatal.

Instead of relaxing, I saw Momonga raise his guard. It would be too foolish to die because of carelessness though. Next, we ought to continue testing our powers.

Momonga then activated one of his skills.

“—「Create Mid Tier Undead, Death Knight」.”

This was one of Momonga’s skills, which could create various undead. The Death Knight in question was Momonga’s favorite undead monster, which he used as a meat shield.

It was roughly level thirty-five, but although its attack power was only comparable to a level twenty-five monster, its defensive power was very good, equivalent to a level forty monster. That said, monsters of that level were useless to Momonga for the most part.

However, the Death Knight had two very important skills.

One of them was the ability to draw away enemy attacks. The other was that just once, they could survive any attack with one HP. Momonga liked using Death Knights as shields because of these two skills.

This time around, I was also looking forward to seeing a Death Knight in action.

In YGGDRASIL, when he used his skills to create undead, they would appear out of the sky in their summoner’s vicinity. However, things seemed different in this world.

A cloud of black fog appeared. The cloud headed straight for the body of the knight whose heart had been crushed and then enveloped it.

The mist slowly expanded and melded with the knight’s body. After that, the knight wobbled before slowly rising to its feet like a zombie.

“Eeeeek!”

I heard the shrieks from the sisters, but I had no time to worry about them. After all, everyone was quite surprised at the sight before our eyes.

With a wet, dripping sound, several rills of black ichor oozed out from between the gaps in the knight’s helmet. It must have come from the knight’s mouth.

The black fluid flowed out without end until it covered the knight’s entire body. It looked like a human being that had been swallowed by a slime. Completely surrounded by the black liquid, the knight’s body began to twist and change.

“Okay, talk about freaky. Does this count as defiling a corpse?” I worried.

After several seconds, the black liquid fell off the body of what was now a Death Knight.

It was now two point three meters tall, and its body was correspondingly bulkier. It no longer resembled a human being, but a wild beast.

In its left hand, it held a large shield that covered three-quarters of its body — a tower shield — and in its right hand it held a wavy-bladed flamberge. This one hundred thirty-centimeter-long weapon was intended to be held with both hands, but the massive Death Knight could easily wield it with one hand. A dreadful red-black aura covered the flamberge’s blade, which pulsed like a heart.

Its massive body was sheathed in a suit of full plate armor made from some black armor, and it was covered in red tracery that resembled blood vessels. The armor was also covered in spikes as far as anyone could see, and it looked like a man-shaped incarnation of brutality. Demonic horns sprang from its head, and one could see its rotted face underneath them. Twin points of hateful, murderous light shone in the eye sockets of its ghastly visage.

Its tattered black cape blowing in the wind, the Death Knight awaited Momonga’s orders. The way it carried itself was truly deserving of the name "Death Knight".

“Strange. That’s not how it worked in YGGDRASIL. In the game, summoning something doesn’t require a corpse.

“Yeah, that’s true. Maybe I should try to summon something that’s not undead. What do you think Momo?”

“Go ahead. It might be educational.” Momonga replied.

“Okay. Although, my summoning skills aren’t on your level. Your minions are usually stronger than mine and I only use them when I’m feeling too lazy to attack myself. Whatever, [Summon Lightning Djinn].”

From thin air, a shape of pure swirling blue air appeared. It resembled a muscular genie with a goatee, a red turban on its head, a purple vest, and two golden bracers on each arm. It had no legs, so it just hovered in the air. Its hands had four vicious long claw-like fingers on each of them.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Momonga only needs a corpse to summon his undead, so it looks like I only need air to summon my creatures.” I assumed.

“My Lightning Djinn’s defense isn’t as impressive as a Death Knight’s, but it does have one advantage. Being a semi-sentient cloud makes it immune to physical attacks other than specially enchanted weapons.” I analyzed the summon.

“Very impressive Tempest. You’ve certainly helped me learn a lot.” Momonga praised.

“It’s what I’m here for Bone Man,” I replied.

Much like he had with the Primal Fire Elemental and Moonlight Wolves he had summoned, Momonga must’ve used the mental bond with his summoned monster and pointed to the corpse of the knight who had been slain by my 「Dragon Lightning」.

“Death Knight! Exterminate all the knights who are attacking this village,” Momonga ordered the Death Knight.

“OOOOOOOAAAAHHHHHHH!” it roared.

“Shit that thing is loud.” I thought.

So mighty was its cry that it shook the air, and it was so filled with bloodlust that everyone who heard it broke out in goosebumps.

The Death Knight ran, fast as lightning. The way it charged forward without hesitation was like a hunting hound that had scented its quarry. The undead creature’s hatred for the living made it sensitive to the prey that it would soon slaughter.

As the Death Knight’s silhouette shrank into the distance, I, and probably Momonga as well, was keenly aware of a difference between this new world and YGGDRASIL.

That was "independence".

Originally, the Death Knight should have stayed by its summoner’s side to await his orders and attack any enemies which approached. I had seen it work like this in the past. Yet, it had disregarded that order and launched an attack of its own accord. This difference might be a fatal vulnerability in an unknown situation like this one.

At a loss for words, I just stood there staring confusedly at the retreating Death Knight while Momonga scratched his head and sighed.

“It ran off… to think a shield would abandon the person it was supposed to protect. Then again, I did tell it to do so.”

“Eh, the best guess is a new world means new rules,” I said in an attempt to rationalize what just happened.

“Still though. The point of a bodyguard summon is to stay near its summoner and protect them from harm. Oh, well.” I gave up trying to get upset over this bizarre behavior from a summon.

“Okay. You!” I said while pointing at my Lightning Djinn, “Go help the Death Knight kill these enemy knights, protect him as if he were your best buddy! Oh, and don’t harm any of the villagers. Thank you.”

The Lightning Djinn bowed at me and swirled after Momonga’s Death Knight.

“We really need to get to the bottom of these ‘new summon rules.’” I thought.

Although Momonga could make quite a few more Death Knights, it was best to conserve limited-use abilities, while he was not sure of the enemy and the situation. Still, Momonga was a back-line mage. Without a front-liner to run interference for him, he was effectively naked.

Therefore, he would need to create another defender. This time, he would try making one without a corpse.

Still, though, I can be his shield.

Just as Momonga was thinking about that, two humanoid shapes came through the still-open [Gate]. At the same time, the portal’s duration ended, and it slowly disappeared.

A person clad in a suit of full-body black plate armor and a child-like Fallen Angel stood before me and Momonga.

If was the Guardian Overseer Albedo and one of my NPCs Lucifer Shadows.

That suit of armor looked like a demon. It was covered in spikes and did not expose the slightest bit of flesh. Its clawed gauntlets grasped a black kite shield in one hand and a bardiche that radiated a sickly green glow in the other. A blood-red cape blew in the wind, while the doublet beneath was also the carmine of fresh blood.

“The preparations took some time. I apologize for our late arrival,” Albedo’s melodic voice spoke from beneath the horned helmet.

Albedo’s levels were in the defense focused Dark Knight class. As a result, among the four level one hundred warriors of Nazarick — Sebas, Toro, Cocytus, and Albedo — Albedo possessed the greatest defensive ability.

In other words, she was the strongest shield in Nazarick.

“Yeah! Sorry, we’re late masters, can you forgive us?” Lucifer asked in an adorable voice.

Lucifer’s talents lied in healing magic since she had levels in Cleric and Druid job classes. She makes great support by tending to injured allies. I thought we could bring Lucifer along to replenish the health of any wounded villagers.

“No, it’s fine. You both came just in time.” Momonga told them.

“We’re just glad you both made it,” I said in a sincere tone.

“Thank you. Then… how shall we dispose of these inferior lifeforms? If you do not wish to stain his hands with their blood, I will gladly eliminate them on your behalf, Momonga-sama.”

“Your being mean Lady Albedo,” Lucifer said in a disapproving tone while crossing her arms, which made sense since her positive karma value was very high so it’s only natural she’d disapprove of killing innocents.

“...What exactly did Sebas tell you?”

Albedo did not respond.

Lucifer rolled her eyes at Albedo’s forgetfulness.

“I see, you didn’t pay attention… my intention is to save this village. Our enemies are the knights in armor, like that corpse over there.”

Momonga saw that Albedo nodded in understanding and turned his eyes elsewhere.

“Then…”

The two girls shrank under our unyielding gaze and tried their best to make themselves as small as possible. Perhaps it was because of the Death Knight, or because they heard its roar, or because they had heard Albedo’s words, which made them tremble uncontrollably.

Perhaps it was all of them.

No, it was definitely more than that.

I felt that we should show our intention to help and Momonga reached his hand out to the elder sister, but the two girls seemed to have gotten the wrong impression.

The elder sister wet herself, followed by the younger sister.

“...”

The stench of ammonia filled the surrounding air. Momonga seemed to have no idea what to do, and Albedo was no help, so Momonga decided to continue trying to express his good intentions.

“...You seem to be hurt.”

As a working man, Momonga had long since trained up his ability to ignore things.

Momonga, who must’ve pretended not to notice, opened his inventory and withdrew a backpack from it. Although it was called an Infinite Backpack, it could only hold up to five hundred kilos of items.

YGGDRASIL players commonly put their immediate-use items into this bag, because the items within the bag could be assigned to hotkeys in the game interface.

After digging through several of these Backpacks, he found a small phial containing a red potion.

It was a Minor Healing Potion.

This potion could restore fifty HP, and beginners in YGGDRASIL frequently used it. However, Momonga, as he was now, had no need for this item at all. This was because this potion healed through positive energy. To an undead being like Momonga, this potion was like a damaging poison. However, not every member of the guild was undead, so Momonga kept some of these items just in case.

“Drink it.”

Momonga offered the red potion. The elder sister’s face was pale with fright as she replied:

“I, I’ll drink it! Just, please, spare my little sister—”

“Nee-chan!”

He watched the little sister weeping as she tried to stop her elder sister, while the elder sister apologized to her little sister while taking the potion. Their reactions appeared to have confused Momonga.

After all, we had saved them in a tight spot and had even offered them a potion. Why were they acting like this in front of us? What was going on here?

“Answer: They were most likely scared of the talking skeleton man that can kill you with magic.” I realized.

[Message] “Tempest! They don’t trust me at all. Even though I wanted to leave them to their fate at first, I ended up being their savior in the end. They should be crying and hugging me in gratitude. Isn’t this sort of thing common in manga and movies? But the exact opposite is happening now. Where did I go wrong? Could it be that being instantly accepted is a privilege of the beautiful?”

Just as a baffled expression dawned on Momonga’s fleshless face, I replied.

[Message] “Momo. Need I point out that your talking skeleton that crushes peoples’ hearts with magic? What part of that wouldn’t be scary to regular people?”

[Message] “Well, that would make sense. I should do something about that.” Momonga realized.

Just we were finishing our conversation, a dulcet voice said:

“...Lord Momonga offered you a healing potion out of the kindness of his heart, but to think you would actually dare to refuse it… you inferior lifeforms deserve ten thousand deaths for that.”

Albedo raised her bardiche in a natural way, preparing to behead them on the spot.

Considering they had treated him like this despite how he had risked himself to save them, I guess I could understand Albedo’s feelings. However, if we let her go ahead and slay them, then there would be no point to this rescue.

I quickly reached out my hand and grabbed Albedo’s Ginnungagap weapon before she could swing it.

“Wait, wait, Albedo don’t be so hasty. I believe they’re simply frightened. Fear makes others act irrationally. Please, just let me ask them a few questions in order to better understand the situation. There is a time and place for everything, so kindly lower your weapon.” I requested as gently as possible in this stressful situation.

“...Understood, Lord Tempest,” Albedo replied gently as I let go of her weapon and she withdrew her bardiche.

However, she was still radiating murderous intent, to the point where the two girls were gritting their teeth in fear. In response, my stomach began cramping up.

“Note to self, don’t piss off this lady.” I kept to memory.

In any case, we had to leave this place as soon as possible.

If we remained here, who knew what other tragedies might occur?

“Thank you, Albedo,” I said.

I turned to the two girls and began asking them questions.

“Would you two mind answering some questions of mind? And if you want, I can answer any questions you have. Does that sound good?” I asked.

Both girls nodded frantically.

“Thank you,” I said in a calm voice.

“Okay, my first question is: why are so afraid of us?”

“W-well, because the undead are monsters who exist only to kill the living because of their hatred toward them and we’re unnerved by a giant armored warrior such as yourself.”

“Oh, that makes sense. Just so you know, yes I am a warrior, but I only fight in self-defense. Understand?”

The girls nodded their heads, but they were clearly still afraid.

“Well, I’m being honest when I say my friend does not hate the living and he has no interest in destroying life because we’ve been friends for years. At worst he’s just a big sour puss.”

The younger girl laughed at my comment.

The older girl nodded and then whimpered, most likely because of the pain she was feeling from her wound.

“If you’re scared though, my companion can help improve your mood. Lucifer, please come here.”

The small, blonde-haired girl with the pretty dress and tiny wings on her back moved past Albedo and Momonga then stopped before both girls.

Lucifer gave them a big smile and then waved.

“Hi! I’m Lucifer Shadows! Nice ta meet ya! What’s ya names?” Lucifer said in an overly friendly tone.

“Hello,” the younger girl said to the strange-looking child in front of her, “My name is Nemu and this is my sister Enri.”

Lucifer flashed them a toothy grin.

“Those are nice names. Anyway, I’m here to help you by making your bad feelings go away [Lion’s Heart].” She cast.

A green glow appeared from Lucifer’s hands as she cast her spell.

[Lion’s Heart] was a spell that granted fear resistance.

After Lucifer was done the two girls visibly relaxed but still seemed a little unsettled.

Momonga offered the potion again.

“This is a healing potion. It is harmless. Hurry up and drink it.”

Momonga’s words were gentle but backed with an adamant will. There was also the implied threat that if she did not drink, she would be slain.

The elder sister’s eyes went wide, and she gulped the potion down. After that, a look of surprise filled her face.

“No way…”

She touched her back, then wiggled her body in disbelief and patted her back.

“So that’s how a healing potion works in real life. Well, I’ll be damned.” I thought in amazement.

“The pain is gone?”

“Y-Yes, it is...”

The elder sister nodded stiffly, to indicate that it did not hurt.

It would seem that the minor wounds on her were easily remedied by a low tier healing potion.

Now that we had their trust, Momonga continued by asking a question. There was no way around that question, and depending on the answer, it would affect his future movements.

“Do you know of magic?"

“Yes, yes I do. The alchemist who comes to our village… my friend knows how to use magic.”

“...Is that so. Well, that makes things easy to explain. I am a magic caster as are my two companions.” Momonga said then pointed to me and Lucifer Shadows.

Momonga then cast his spells:

“「Anti-Life Cocoon」.”

“「Wall of Protection From Arrows」.”

A dome of light, roughly three meters in radius, surrounded the sisters. The second spell was not visible to the naked eye, but there was a subtle change in the air. Momonga probably would’ve used an anti-magic spell as well, but we did not know what sort of magic existed in this world, so that might be the reason why he did not do so for the time being. If the enemy had magic casters, then that was just their bad luck.

If Momonga was using defensive magic then I guess it was my turn.

“Okay, here’s my contribution [Energy Immunity – Electricity].”

“I have cast a defensive spell that keeps living creatures from coming near you, as well as a spell that weakens the effectiveness of shooting attacks. As long as you stay here, you should be safe. Ah, just in case, I will give you these as well.” Momonga explained.

“And I’ve provided you with protection against air attacks,” I informed the girls what my spell did.

After calmly explaining the effects of the magic to the two dumbfounded sisters, Momonga withdrew a pair of unremarkable-looking horns. Apparently, the magic did not obstruct them, since they sailed straight through the forcefield as Momonga tossed them to the sisters’ side.

“These are called the Horns of the Goblin General. If you blow them, Goblins — in other words, small monsters — will appear. Order them to protect you.”

In YGGDRASIL, electronic data crystals dropped from monsters could be slotted into almost any sort of item (apart from certain expendable items), in order to create just about any item a player could think of. In addition, there were certain artifacts which could not be created by players and had fixed stats. These horns were examples of them.

Momonga had used the horn before, and at that time it managed to summon a Goblin Troop, twelve or so Goblins with some measure of ability. There were two Goblin Archers, one Goblin Mage, a Goblin Cleric, two Goblin Riders and their wolf mounts, as well as one Goblin Leader.

Although it was called a Goblin Troop, their numbers were few and they were very weak.

This was a trash item for us. The surprise was why he had not disposed of it yet. Still, Momonga could put this trash item to good use.

Another good point about this item was that the summoned Goblins would linger until they were killed instead of vanishing after a while. That could at least buy the girls some time.

As Momonga finished, he turned to leave, bringing Albedo, Lucifer, and me with him as he headed to the village. However, after a few steps, a couple of voices called out to us.

“Ah… th-thank you for saving us!”

“Thank you!”

Those words stopped Momonga in his tracks, and when he turned around, he saw the two girls, their eyes brimming with tears as they thanked us. He simply replied:

“...Think nothing of it.”

“We’re just happy to help,” I replied.

“And, and this may be thick-skinned of us, but, but you are the only ones we can count on. Please! Please save our parents!”

“All right. If they’re still alive, I will rescue them.”

“Hopefully they’re still alive,” I muttered.

The sisters’ eyes went wide as they heard our words. Their faces reflected the disbelief in their hearts, but soon they came to their senses and lowered their heads in thanks.

“Th-Thank you! Thank you very much! And, and, may we know…”

The girl’s voice trailed off, and then she asked in a mumble:

“May we know your names...?”

Momonga almost responded by reflex, but in the end he did not state his name.

The name "Momonga" was that of the guild master of the former Ainz Ooal Gown. Then what should he call himself now? What was the name of one of the last men who remained in the Great Tomb of Nazarick?

“...Remember my name well. I am Ainz Ooal Gown.”

“—Ah, that’s it.” I thought to myself humorously.

“And I am his loyal bodyguard Tempest.”

…

Scene Change: Inside of Carne Village:

“OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

The mighty roar shattered the air.

It was the signal for a slaughter to become a massacre of a different sort.

In the blink of an eye, the hunters had become the hunted.

Londes Di Gelanpo had probably cursed his gods more times in the past ten seconds than he had in the rest of his life. If the gods really did exist, then they should defeat that evil being right now. Londes was a faithful man — why had the gods abandoned him?

The gods did not exist.

In the past, he had looked down on those people who did not believe in the gods as fools. After all, if the gods did not exist, how could the priests work their magic? And now, he realized that he was the foolish one.

The monster before him — a Death Knight, for want of a better word — drew closer.

He took two steps back in response, trying to get away from it.

A shrill creaking noise came from his armor, and the sword he clutched in both hands was trembling uncontrollably. He was not the only one; the other eighteen knights surrounding the Death Knight were all acting the same way.

Although they were filled with fear, none of them ran. This was not courage — the grinding of their teeth could attest to that. If they could, they would run as fast and as far as they could.

It was because they knew there was no escape.

Londes’ eyes shifted, pleading for help.

This square was at the center of the village, where Londes and his men had gathered sixty or so villagers. They looked fearfully at Londes and his men, while a group of children were hiding behind a wooden watchtower.

Some of the children held sticks, but none of them was in a fighting stance. It was all they could do not to drop their sticks.

During Londes’ attack on the village, they had chased the villagers to the central square. They searched the houses, and then, in order to root out anyone who was hiding in the cellars, they poured in alchemical oils and set them on fire.

There were four knights standing guard around the village with bows, and their job was to shoot down anyone who tried to escape the village. They had done this several times now, and it could be said that they were old hands at this sort of thing.

The massacre had taken a fair bit of time, but it had been successful, and they had gathered the surviving villagers into one place. After that, they would release some of the prisoners as bait.

It should have been like that, but—

Londes still remembered that moment.

The sight of Erion flying through the air, after the last few villagers fled into the square.

It should have been impossible. Nobody knew what was going on. How could they understand the reason why a trained, grown man in full plate armor — which still had some weight even if it was lightened by magic — could fly through the air like a ball?

After soaring about seven meters through the air, he fell to the earth with a thunderous crash and lay still.

A bone-chilling monster stood where Erion had been. The hair-raising undead being called a Death Knight lowered the tower shield that had bashed Erion and stood before them.

This was when their despair began.

“Aiiiiieee!”

Their panicked squeals echoed through the air. One of the men huddled together with his comrades could not bear the oppressive terror and fled with a scream.

Under these extreme circumstances, it was only natural that — when stretched to the breaking point — people would snap. However, among all of the fleeing man’s comrades, not one of them joined him. The reason was that would soon be evident.

A black gale whirled past the field of Londes’ vision.

The Death Knight’s body was larger than a normal human’s, but its nimble grace was far beyond anyone’s expectations.

And the Death Knight was not alone. It was accompanied by a swirling monster that looked like it was made of air and wore bizarre clothing.

While the Death Knight was on the front-line killing everyone, this swirling air creature massacred the attacking soldiers on the sides, tearing them apart into chunks of meat with its bare hands.

The Death Knight and Air Monster worked together well as a team. They left no openings in their defenses.

The fleeing man only managed to take three steps.

Just as he was about to take his fourth step, an arc of silver brilliance cleaved his body in two. The bisected left and right halves of his body collapsed in opposite directions. A sour stench filled the air as his pink internal organs spilled out.

“GUWOOOOOOOOOOHHH!” the blood-covered Death Knight roared as it swung its sword.

“HHHHHHHHHHMMMMMM!” the Air Monster laughed.

The Death Knight gave a roar of joy while the Air Monster let out an amused chuckle.

The look of delight was unmistakable, even on the Death Knight’s rotted face. As an overwhelmingly superior slaughterer, it savored the despair and terror of the pitiful humans who could not even survive a single one of its blows.

While the Air Monster took satisfaction in its success at killing the knights.

Nobody dared attack, though they had swords in hand.

At first, they had tried an attack, though they were afraid. But even those blades which had made it past their foe’s defense could not strike a telling blow through the Death Knight’s armor and their swords went through the seemingly intangible swirling body of the Air Monster. After their strikes failed, the Air Monster tore the men apart with its hands without hesitation, mercy, or any kind of reluctance.

In contrast, the Death Knight did not use its sword but sent Londes flying with a shield bash, and it did so without using enough force to kill.

As for the Air Monster, it did not receive a scratch since their swords went right through it without drawing any blood, then it would easily tear apart the soldiers who were foolish enough to get close to it.

These two monsters were clearly toying with them, given the way they did not use their full strength. It was plain to see that the Death Knight and Air Monster wanted to enjoy the dying struggles of these humans.

The Death Knight and Air Monster only dealt fatal blows in earnest when the knights tried to escape.

The first knight to run was Ririk. He was a nice guy but a bad drunk. His limbs were chopped off, followed by his head.

After seeing the two deaths, the other knights knew the score, so they did not dare to flee.

Their attacks were ineffective, and they would be killed if they tried to run.

The only thing they could do was wait their turn to be tortured to death.

Although there was no way to see their faces below the full helms they wore, everyone present was keenly aware of their fate. The wails of grown men reduced to children echoed throughout the village. These men who had always oppressed the weak had not thought that one day, they would be on the receiving end of that treatment.

“Oh god, please save me…”

“Oh god…”

After hearing these cries for salvation, the strength left Londes’ legs and he almost fell to his knees. He loudly cursed the gods — or was it a prayer to them?

“You, you lot, go hold those monsters back!” a desperate knight shouted. He knew that his fate was sealed. His words sounded like an off-key psalm.

The man who spoke was standing next to the Death Knight and Air Monster. The way he was stumbling back on his tiptoes to back away from the corpse of his comrade was quite comical.

Londes frowned as he looked on that man in his pathetic state. It was hard to tell who had spoken those words because their closed helmets covered their faces and their voices were distorted by fear. Still, he knew that only one man would speak like that.

...Captain Belius.

Londes’ frown deepened.

Overcome by his lewd desires, he had tried to rape a village girl and then sought help from others after he got into a fight with her father. After he was pulled off the other man, he vented his anger by stabbing the father with his sword. That was the kind of man he was. However, his family was quite wealthy in their country, and he had joined this unit because of his family’s riches.

Everything had gone wrong because he had been made their leader.

“I’m not someone who should die here! All of you, hurry up and protect me from these monsters! Be my shields so I can escape!”

Nobody moved. He might have been appointed their leader, but he was not popular at all. Nobody would throw their lives away for a man like this.

However, the Death Knight responded to his shouting, and it slowly turned to face Belius while the Air Monster smirked and quickly moved behind Belius to cut off his escape route.

“Aiiiiiieeeeee—!”

The only thing praiseworthy about him was that he could make so much noise while standing in front of the Death Knight.

Just as Londes began to respect this odd quality of Belius’, he heard the man shriek in terror:

“Money, I’ll give you money! Two hundred gold pieces!! No, make that five hundred gold pieces!!!”

Those were considerable amounts he was talking about. However, right now, it was like telling them that he would pay them to jump off a Five-hundred-meter cliff.

Although nobody responded, one person — no, half a person moved as though in reply to him.

“Uboooooarrr…”

The right half of the bisected corpse gripped Belius’ ankles firmly. The bloody gargling from its mouth hardly sounded like words.

“—Ogyaaaaaahhhhh!!!!” Belius screamed in an unnaturally high-pitched voice. The onlooking knights and villagers were frozen in fear, their skin covered in goosebumps.

Squire Zombies.

In YGGDRASIL, creatures killed by the Death Knight would become undead of comparable power, haunting the place where they were killed. According to the game’s rules, those damned souls who fell to the Death Knight’s blade would become its slaves for all eternity.

Belius stopped screaming and fell like a puppet whose strings had been cut, facing the sky. He must have passed out. The Death Knight drew closer to the defenseless man and stabbed its wavy-blade flamberge down.

Belius’ body twitched, and—

“Gu-Guwaaaaaaargh!”

Woken by the incredible pain, Belius screamed, “Leh, leh me guh!!!!! Ah beggehg yeh!!!!!! Ah duh anythuh!!!!!!!”

Using both hands, Belius desperately grabbed the flamberge that had already penetrated his body, but the Death Knight paid his futile struggles no heed and worked the flamberge like a saw. His flesh and armor were cruelly torn open, and fresh blood flew everywhere.

“—Aah—eeeh—ah gib ya munni, leh, leh meh guh—”

Belius’ body shuddered, and then he breathed his last. Only then was the Death Knight satisfied, and it stepped away from Belius’ corpse.

The Air Monster only laughed at Belius’ gruesome death.

“No… no… please, no…”

“Oh god!”

The knights realized something.

“They’re not even taking us seriously. These two monsters are killing us as if they were just two good friends playing a game together.”

It was obvious to Londes that their attacks and movements were well-coordinated as he couldn’t find any flaws, weaknesses, or openings in their pattern.

Their screams came from seeing the ghastly sight before them. If they ran, they would die swiftly, but if they stayed, they would die horribly. They knew that perfectly well, but still, they could not bring themselves to move.

“—Get a grip!”

Londes’ shout tore through their wailing. The world was filled with silence, as though time was standing still.

“—Fall back! Sound the horn for the horsemen and archers to come here! The rest of you, do your best to buy some time for the hornblower! I’d rather not die like that, if you don’t mind! Now move!”

Everyone moved in an instant.

There was no sign of their earlier panic. Everyone moved in silent unison, like a raging waterfall.

Their mechanical obedience to their orders without thinking created a miracle. There was no way they could move so immaculately again.

The knights each did what they were supposed to do. They had to protect the knight who would blow the horn and signal the others.

One of the soldiers who had taken several steps back lowered his sword and withdrew his horn from his bag.

“OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” The Death Knight roared.

“HHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHH” The Air Monster screamed.

The Death Knight and Air Monster charged, as though reacting to the horn being taken out. Everyone was shocked. Could it be that the Death Knight and Air Monster wanted to destroy their means of escape so they could kill them to the last man?

But it was too late, the swirling creature managed to sneak behind the knight who held the signal horn and gutted the knight in less than a minute as well as succeeding in destroying the signal horn.

If it was there aim to cut them off from their reinforcements and any hope of escaping, they had accomplished it. Now they can take their time killing them one at a time, like in some twisted game.

The flood of darkness drew closer and closer, and everyone knew that stepping forward to try and stop it was certain death. However, the knights still climbed over each other to block the Death Knight one after the other. Their fear was wiped away by an even greater fear and they surged forward to become obstacles.

Every time its shield moved, a knight was smashed through the air.

Every time its blade flashed, a knight was cut in two.

“Dezun! Morett! Behead the fallen! Hurry, before they come back as monsters!”

The named knights hurriedly ran toward their murdered comrades.

The shield swung, and a knight was thrown into the air. His body was bisected by the flamberge.

Four men had lost their lives in the blink of an eye. Though Londes was still gripped with fear, he readied his sword against the coming of the jet-black storm, like a martyr preparing to give his life for his faith.

“Ohhhh!”

It might have been a meaningless gesture, but Londes did not intend to wait for death. Giving voice to a battle cry, he swung his sword with all his strength at the oncoming Death Knight.

Perhaps it was because of his circumstances, but Londes’ muscles broke their limit and surprised him. It might have been the best blow Londes had ever struck in his life.

The Death Knight swung its flamberge as well.

In an instant, the world before Londes spun—

And he saw his decapitated corpse collapse to the ground, as his sword swung through thin air.

Just then, at that moment, he realized this wasn’t a battle, it was a slaughter.

…

Scene Change: Back to Ainz and Tempest:

I thought the blood bath was pretty gruesome.

Momonga — Ainz raised his head as the sound of the screaming men reached us from the direction of the village.

The area around us was covered with the corpses of the knights who had been standing guard here. The stink of blood hung heavy in the air, but we paid it no heed as we ran our experiments. Just then, I saw Ainz chide himself for getting his priorities wrong.

Ainz cast down the sword in his hand. The sword which had originally belonged to a knight fell to the ground, its gleaming, razor-sharp edge now stained with dirt.

“...Well, I’ve said it before, but this physical damage reduction is quite something.”

“Lord Ainz Ooal Gown.”

“...Ainz will do, Albedo.”

“Well, okay then. Congratulations on your new name Ainzie.” I could hear Ainz groan at my nickname while I activated my [Message] spell.

“Thanks, Tempest.”

[Message] “So, why the sudden name change? Why did you name yourself after our guild? And what am I supposed to call you: Ainz or Momonga?”

[Message] “You can call me either Momonga or Ainz when we’re in private or using [Message]. As for why I’m using our guild name rather than my own is to spread the name of our guild Ainz Ooal Gown in this new world. It’s possible that some of our friends might even be here and if they are here then they will know we are here as well.”

[Message] “Fair enough Momo but can you do one thing for me as a friend?”

[Message] “What?” Momonga asked curiously.

[Message] “Please don’t disgrace our guild name, we worked hard to build Ainz Ooal Gown. You’re not alone remember. I can help you carry this burden. Though, I know you’d never bring shame to our beloved guild. I am honored to be by your side.”

Ainz only nodded his head, he seemed satisfied by my reassurance.

We ended our [Message].

Ainz’s request to be called by a truncated version of his name seemed to have thrown Albedo into confusion.

“Ku, kufu! Am, am I really allowed to do that? Would it not be disrespectful to shorten the name of the leader of the Forty-One Supreme Beings, especially if it is also the name of Nazarick’s rulers!?”

Ainz did not think that it was a big deal. However, her words meant that she respected the name of Ainz Ooal Gown, which pleased Ainz. Therefore, his reply was phrased in a gentle tone:

“It’s fine, Albedo. Besides, Tempest has given his blessing for my new name. Until my former comrades arrive, that is my name. I permit you to shorten it.”

“I understand… no, but please let me address you with the appropriate respect. Then, then… my master, Ai-Ainz-sama… kukuku… yes, that’s right...”

Albedo twisted her body shyly.

“This was getting comical.” I realized.

However, since she was in full body armor, we could not see her beautiful face. To him, she was just acting strangely.

“Could, could it be… kukuku… could it be that Lord Tempest and myself are the only ones who are allowed to address you in such a way?”

“No. Having someone address me by such a long name all the time would be annoying, so I would like to have everyone do the same thing.”

“...Is that so… ah, that’s right. Yes, that’s what I thought—”

Albedo’s mood turned gloomy all of a sudden.

Lucifer, by contrast, was thrilled. “Congratulations on your new name Supreme One! A mighty name such as ‘Ainz Ooal Gown’ fits a great leader such as yourself very well!”

She then gave Ainz two thumbs up.

In an uneasy voice, Ainz asked:

“...Albedo, Lucifer, what do you two think of the name I chose?”

“I think that name suits you very well. It fits my beloved — cough, cough — it fits you, in your capacity as the one who united the Supreme Beings.”

“...This name was intended to represent the forty-one of us, and this includes your maker, Tabula Smaragdina-san. However, I ignored the feelings of your master and the others and took that name for myself on a whim. How do you think they would feel about that?” Momonga asked.

“I doubt they’d mind,” I said from the background.

“...Although I fear to anger you… I pray you will allow me to speak. If my words displease you, then I will gladly take my own life if you command it. I feel that some of the Supreme Beings who abandoned us might object to that name being used by the one who stayed with us until now, Lord Momonga. However, they are not here, so if you wish to use that name, all I feel is happiness, Lord Momonga.”

Albedo lowered her head after she finished speaking, and Ainz and I remained silent.

The phrase “abandoned us” swirled in my mind like a vortex.

Our past companions had left us for their own reasons. YGGDRASIL was just a game, and they could not abandon their real lives for a game. I and Momonga felt the same way too. Yet could it really be said that we — who had been fixated on Ainz Ooal Gown and the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick — had not been suppressing our anger toward our former comrades?

“They abandoned us. Or am I just being pessimistic?” I wondered sadly.

“Albedo, our comrades did not abandon anyone, They…just wanted to move onto another realm in existence. They didn’t want to limit themselves to just one world. Please try to understand.” I said in an attempt to cheer Albedo up.

Albedo bowed deeply at me, “Thank you for your kind words Lord Tempest.”

“...What you said might be so Albedo, but it might not be. Human emotions are a complicated matter, and there is no right answer. Raise your head, Albedo. I understand your feelings. All right, it’s decided… this shall be my name. Until my comrades’ object, I shall be Ainz Ooal Gown.”

“Understood. The thought that our most exalted master… and the man I love most would bear this glorious name fills me with joy.”

“We love ya new name Master Ainz,” Lucifer shouted.

“Albedo does love you man… ah. This just keeps getting weird.” I thought.

I decided not to worry about this for now.

“...Is that so? I’m glad to hear that.”

“Then, Ainz-sama, would you like to spend some time here? Although I would be happy to stand by Ainz-sama’s side, I… right, a stroll through the woods would be fine too.”

He could not do that. We had come to save this village.

The parents that the sisters had asked us to save were already dead.

As I thought of their corpses, I saw Ainz scratch his head.

The sight of their bodies reminded me of all the dead bodies I saw by the roadside back home because they breathed in the toxic air. This filled me with rage.

“Hm, well, a stroll might be all right. After all, there is nothing of importance to do. The Death Knight and Lightning Djinn seem quite happy to do their job.”

“As expected of an undead being that Lord Ainz made. His marvelous execution of his duties is truly praiseworthy. And Lord Tempest’s air creature is quite astounding.”

The undead made by Ainz’s magic and his skills were stronger than ordinary monsters of their kind due to Ainz’s class skills. Naturally the same applied to the Death Knight he had just created. However, it was only a level thirty-five monster, and it was nothing in comparison to the monsters which required XP to create, like Overlord Wiseman and Grim Reaper Thanatos.

My air summons were stronger than typical summons because of my job classes.

The fact that they were still fighting until now meant that the enemies were weak.

In other words, there was no danger.

I wanted to jump for joy when I thought about it, but this didn’t seem like a good time, so I quashed that thought. However, I clenched my fists tightly, under my gauntlets.

“The enemies who attacked the village were too weak. Then, let us go check on the survivors.” Ainz said.

“Agreed,” I replied.

“Yeah, let’s go!” Lucifer shouted.

Before Ainz set out, he had some things to take care of first.

To begin with, he deactivated the special effects of the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown. The malevolent aura which wreathed it vanished like a candle flame in the wind.

Next, he withdrew a full-face mask from his inventory. It was gaudily decorated, and its expression was hard to describe, being somewhere between crying and anger. It resembled a Balinese barong mask.

The mask looked creepy, but it had no special powers. It was a simple cosmetic item that did not contain a trace of data.

Only those who were logged onto YGGDRASIL for more than two hours, between seven pm and ten pm on Christmas Eve, would possess this mask — no, as long as they were in the game during that period of time, they would automatically receive it. It could be called a cursed item.

This mask was known as the Mask of the Jealous, or the Jealous Mask. I would know because I keep one in my inventory too.

Once, when Ainz wore this mask, he was flooded by messages. “Has the company gone mad? We’ve been waiting for this. Nobody in our guild has it, can I PK him? I’m done with being a human being~” and other such things in a certain large message board.

Then, he took out a pair of gloves. Their rough exterior betrayed the fact that they were crudely made and had no special properties.

These gloves were called Jarngreipr, and they were an armor item made by one of Ainz Ooal Gown’s members for fun. Their only ability was to increase the wearer’s strength.

He used these items to hide his skeletal appearance.

“Smart. He’s learning.” I was proud that he realized he was scaring people with his appearance.

Naturally, there was a reason for this emergency camouflage. It was because Ainz realized he had made a fatal mistake.

Ainz was used to YGGDRASIL and looking like a skeleton did not frighten him. However, to the people of this world, Ainz’s appearance was synonymous with terror. Both the sisters who had nearly lost their lives and the fully armored knights were afraid of him.

For the time being, he should use magic items to change his appearance from a "dreadful monster" to "menacing magic caster.” That ought to reduce how frightening he appeared. Then he looked at the Staff. In the end, he decided to keep it with him. Besides, it was not a problem for him.

“Rather than beg your god for aid, you should not have massacred these people in the first place.”

With that line which only an atheist could come up with, Ainz looked away from the corpse, whose fingers were folded into a gesture of prayer, and cast a spell.

“「Fly」.” We both chanted. I didn’t want to expose my wings and give myself away.

Ainz floated lightly into the sky, Albedo soon followed him shortly afterward.

“『Death Knight, if there are any surviving knights, leave them alive. They are useful to me.』”

“『Lightning Djinn, keep the surviving knights alive. But if any of them try to leave, kill them without hesitation.』”

The Death Knight and Lightning Djinn sent their acknowledgment of Ainz’s and mine will back through the mental link we shared. At least that’s what he told me. It was difficult to put the distant Lightning Djinn’s thoughts into words.

I and Ainz flew toward the place from whence the screaming had come from, as quickly as we could.

We soon reached the sky above the village, and I looked down on the landscape beneath him.

I discovered that part of the village square was darkened, as though it had absorbed water. There were many corpses and a few trembling knights, as well as the Death Knight and Lightning Djinn.

I counted the panting knights, who were too tired even to move. There were four of them in total. Though there were more than he expected, a few extra would not be a problem.

“Death Knight. That will be all for now.” Ainz said.

“Thank you Lightning Djinn. You can stand down now. Activate guard mode. You’ve served me well.” I complimented.

Ainz’s words seemed strangely incongruous with the surroundings like he was buying something at a store. But to Ainz, this situation was as casual as going shopping.

We slowly descended to the ground, accompanied by Albedo and Lucifer.

The false knights stared at us and our two female companions with mouths agape. They had been hoping for a rescue, but what had come was the people responsible for everything, and our arrival shattered their hopes.

“Greetings, gentlemen. My name is Ainz Ooal Gown.”

“And I’m Tempest.”

Nobody answered.

“If you throw down your arms, I can guarantee your lives. Of course, if you would rather fight—”

“We’ll just kill you all right now like the spineless cowards you are!” I growled.

One sword was cast to the ground. It was shortly followed by the other swords being thrown down until there were four blades on the ground.

Nobody spoke during this time.

“...You seem quite tired. Although, don’t you think your heads are held a bit too high before the master of the Death Knight and the master of the Lightning Djinn?”

The knights immediately prostrated themselves before us without a single sound.

They did not look like vassals before their lord so much as convicts awaiting execution.

“...We will permit you to leave with your lives. In exchange, tell your master — your owner — this.”

Ainz used the effects of the 「Fly」 spell to move near one of the knights, and then he removed his helmet with the hand that was not holding the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown. I noted the man’s exhausted eyes, and their gazes met through the mask.

“Do not make trouble around here. If you make a disturbance here, I will slay you with the rest of your country.”

The trembling knight nodded as hard as he could. His frantic gesture looked quite comical.

“Get lost. And make sure to relay this to your master.”

“And don’t come back unless you’re looking to die.” I snorted.

He jerked his chin, and the knights fled like rabbits.

“...Ah, this act is tiring,” Momonga quietly grumbled as he watched the knights run away.

If there were no villagers around, I might even have stretched his shoulders. Although I was doing the same thing in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, playing the role of a dignified person was very tiring for an average man like me. Yet, until the curtains closed on this act of ours, I had to wear my mask.

I resisted the urge to sigh and walked toward the villagers. Me, Albedo, and Lucifer followed behind him, our every step accompanied by the clanking of metal and pounding on the ground.

“『—Clear up your zombie slaves』,” Ainz had informed he would order the Death Knight to do this.

As we drew closer to them, I could see more clearly the confusion and unease on the villagers’ faces.

It was not that they were not happy at being rescued from the knights but frightened by the people before them.

I finally realized this. We were powerful, much more so than those so-called knights, so we did not consider this situation from a weak person’s point of view.

I decided to reflect on this and pondered it quietly.

If we went too close to them, the outcome would be the opposite of what we were hoping for. Therefore, we decided to stop at a distance from them and spoke in a kindly tone.

“You have been saved. Be at ease.”

“Please calm down. We mean no harm.” I said in a soothing tone.

“You, you are…”

One of the villagers was saying that, but even in the middle of speaking to Ainz, his eyes never left the Death Knight and Lightning Djinn.

“We saw someone attacking this village, so we came here to help.”

“Ohh…”

As the noises spilled out, looks of relief dawned on the faces of the villagers. Even so, they could not be completely at ease.

”This is such a pain. Should we try a different approach?” I speculated.

Ainz decided to handle this in a way I did not like much.

“...That said, this was not for free. We expect a reward commensurate with the number of villagers whom I saved.”

The villagers looked at each other. It would seem that they were worried about money. However, their doubtful looks faded away. This crass demand for money in exchange for salvation seemed to have allayed their suspicions somewhat.

“With, with the village in its present state…”

Ainz raised his hand to silence the other man then I continued his argument.

“We can discuss that later. We rescued a pair of sisters before we came here. We’ll bring them over now. Can you wait here for us?”

We had to make sure those sisters did not talk and give away Ainz’s true identity.

Without waiting for them to reply, Ainz and I slowly headed off.

“Was Ainz going to use magic to alter their memories so they won’t tell anyone he’s a skeleton? These people would freak out if they found out about who we really are.” I thought.


	4. Attack of the Sunlight Scripture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tempest saves the life of the Re-Estize Kingdom's greatest warrior, Gazef Stronoff.

The Tempest of Nazarick  
…  
Well, in this chapter Tempest will confront and defeat the Slane Theocracy on his own because he doesn’t want to risk the life of a good man and warrior like Gazef Stronoff. Also, I get to show how much of a badass he is.  
In time, Tempest will shed his humanity like Ainz and become crueler and greedier, ultimately though he’ll still be a much more moral person because he’ll be more willing to show mercy.  
I’m not pairing Tempest with any of the other Pleiades, but I will consider pairing him with other females like Leinas Rockbruise and Draudillon Oriculus.  
Besides, I already have plans to pair Lupusregina with Toro.  
Originally, Eight-Edge Assassins are spawned as part of Nazarick's defenses, but since coming to the New World, it and others have become self-aware.  
In the web novel, the Eight-Edge Assassins were Cocytus’ minions, I’m going to include that here since he’ll most likely recognize the value of having shadows. They’ll also be taking orders from Heretic since he is Nazarick’s Master Assassin.  
Note: Ainz’s Mask of the Jealous is also called the Mask of Envy.  
Just so you know: When Ainz went to the Treasury to fetch Tempest’s Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown in chapter 2 he didn’t run into Pandora’s Actor because he stepped out to get a meal at the Restaurant of Nazarick.  
Remember, Neuronist Painkill is assisted by a group called the Torturers in her Area.  
Lucifer helps convert Nigun to Nazarick’s side, so he’ll serve as a spy in the Slane Theocracy.  
…  
Chapter 4: Attack of the Sunlight Scripture  
…  
Current Scene: The House of the Chief of Carne Village:

The Village Chief had a house near the village square. Upon entering, we were greeted by a large living room, with a kitchen off to one side. A rickety old table and several chairs occupied the center of the room.

Me and Ainz surveyed the interior from where he was seated on one of the chairs.

The sunlight which shone through the windows illuminated every corner of the room, so we could see clearly inside even without the Dark Vision ability.

I took a look at the woman in the corner of the kitchen, and the farming tools inside the house.

There were no manufactured products to be seen anywhere.

Just as I thought that there would not be much in the way of technology here, I realized that my thinking might be naive. Still, I was curious about what sort of science that a world with magic would develop.

I saw Ainz shift his hand across the old table to avoid the sunlight. His metal gauntlets were not heavy, but the shabbily-made table shook under its weight. The chair also creaked from Ainz sitting on it.

This was a textbook definition of the word “poverty.”

I decided to just stand behind him and lean on the wall with my arms crossed.

Ainz leaned the Staff on the table to keep it out of people’s way. The way the Staff reflected the sunlight in a brilliant display made the run-down old house appear to be some sort of fairytale wonderland. I recalled the surprised expressions on the villager’s faces, the way their eyes went wide and how they were lost for words.

A surge of pride seemed to have come over Ainz as the villagers asked about the Staff which we and our guildmates had painstakingly crafted. However, his delight was immediately suppressed to normal levels.

Frankly speaking, I think Ainz disliked this forced calming effect he described to me once. That said, it was also true that allowing his emotions to run wild would make it difficult to solve the challenges ahead of us. With that in mind, we prepared ourselves for our upcoming task.

We had to negotiate payment for rescuing the village with the Chief.

Of course, our real objective was to obtain information, and not money. However, directly asking for information would be strange.

While it would be fine in a small village like this, once the local lords found out, they would begin making their way to us. When they discovered that we knew nothing about this world, there was a high chance that they would try to use us.

“I hate being used.” I thought angrily.

Then again, was I being too cautious about this?

I felt that this was like running across a busy road — a fatal accident could happen at any time. The fatal accident in this case meant encountering the mighty beings of this world.

Strength and weakness were two sides of the same coin.

For now, we were stronger than everyone he had encountered in this village. However, that did not guarantee that we were stronger than everyone in this world. In addition, Ainz was now undead, and from the terrified reaction of the two girls, I could imagine that undead were not very well-received in this world. I doubt they’d like dragons either since stories describe them as greedy, destructive creatures that take what they want and destroy homes. I should keep my Dragonoid nature a secret for now. As for Ainz, well, he had to be aware that since most humans would hate him, they might well attack him. And I’d have to put them down. Thus, he had to tread very carefully.

“Sorry to keep you both waiting.”

—The Chief sat opposite Ainz. His wife stood behind him.

His skin was dark and covered in wrinkles.

His body was very muscular, and it was obvious that those muscles had been honed through heavy labor. More than half of his hair was white.

Though his crudely made cotton shirt was stained by dirt, it did not stink.

The tired look on his face made me think he was over forty-five years old, but it was hard to tell, because he seemed to have grown older in the past half hour or so.

The Chief’s wife was roughly the same age as her husband.

She had been slim and beautiful once, but after long years of working on the farm, that beauty was nowhere to be seen. All that was left were the wrinkles that covered her face.

Her shoulder-length black hair was mussed up, and she looked gloomy even under the direct sunlight.

“Do you require a chair sir?” The Village Chief asked me as he noticed that I was standing.

I shrugged, “That will not be necessary, I am comfortable as I am Village Chief.”

“Very good. But should you require a chair simply inform us and one will be provided.”

“Thank you good sir.” I replied trying to sound grateful.

“Please, help yourselves.”

The Village Chief placed a crude-looking cup on the table. Albedo was not here because she was patrolling the village and Lucifer was busy healing any injured villagers.

Ainz raised his hand, refusing the cup of hot, steaming water.

“Thank you, however, I am not thirsty. I had a drink earlier today.” I refused politely because I didn’t want to remove my helmet and show my reptilian face to anyone.

It made sense why Momo would refuse, he did not feel thirsty, nor could he remove the mask. However, I felt that we should have refused earlier, given that she had gone to so much trouble for us.

The trouble in question concerned the boiled water.

First, there was the matter of creating sparks with a flint. Then, she had to light wood shavings — or tinder — with those sparks. Then, she had to fan the sparks into flames, and when they were big enough, she had to transfer them to the stove. Then, she had to boil the water, and by the time that was finished, a long time had passed.

This must’ve been the first time either of us had seen water boiled by a hand-started fire, rather than through the use of an electric kettle. I found it quite fascinating. Back in our world, I had boiled water on a gas stove, so it was hardly as time-consuming as this.

This was also a good opportunity to gather some information on the technological level of this world. With that in mind, Ainz spoke to the Chief again:

“I do apologize, especially since you went to all this trouble to prepare water for us.”

“Please forgive us if we seem ungrateful.” I said while bowing my head as a form of apology.

“You are too kind. There is no need to apologize.”

The fact that Ainz also lowered his head to them (however slightly) filled the Village Chief and his wife with dread. They could not imagine the Death Knight’s summoner and the Lightning Djinn’s summoner bowing their heads to anyone.

However, it was hardly strange to either of us. It was always a good idea to have a friendly attitude when negotiating with someone else.

“It would get them to relax their guard and tell us vital information they normally wouldn’t feel like sharing.” I noted.

Of course, we could simply have used 「Charm Person」 to make them talk, followed by high-tier memory alteration spells, much like Ainz had done with the sisters. However, that was a last resort, because it took far too much MP.

I recalled the feeling of spending MP; it felt like a strange fatigue, like I had lost something.

Ainz told me what it felt to alter the memory of those girls with magic.

Just altering the tens of seconds of their memories — until he had put on his mask and his gauntlets — had taken a considerable amount of MP.

“Then, let us cut to the chase and begin the negotiations.”

“Yes. But before that… thank you very much!”

The Chief bowed to us, his head so low that it nearly touched the table. After that, his wife bowed as well.

“Without the help of both of you, we would all be dead by now. You two have our deepest thanks!”

I was quite surprised to receive such unreserved gratitude.

When I looked back on his past life, I had never been thanked like this before. People have thanked me for minor gestures such as helping them with jobs, but I only got a ‘thank you.’ No, the sisters we rescued earlier had acted that way too. Well, I had never saved someone else’s life before, so it was only to be expected.

That was a relic from my time as a human being — as Donathan Drake. Although I was a little embarrassed by this earnest appreciation, I certainly did not hate it.

“Please, raise your heads. Like I said earlier, we did not help you for free.”

“And I couldn’t stand the thought of cowards believing they can harm others without consequence.” I said while growling.

“We know that, but still, we wish to thank you both for rescuing us and many of the other villagers.”

“...Then, paying us more will be good enough. Come, let us discuss it. You must have many things to do, Village Chief-dono.”

“Nothing could be more important than spending time with our saviors, but I understand.”

The Chief slowly raised his head, and I racked my brain.

Our goal here was to obtain information through conversation, rather than through magic.

“—What a pain.” I mentally complained.

I still remembered the tricks I had used as an intern at the community center. How effective would they be here? Hopefully, at least half of them would be useful. Still though, Ainz is more of a talker than me, I’m sure he’ll get something useful out of them. Ainz asked:

“...Let us get to the point. How much can you pay us?”

“I don’t like the idea of taking money from poor people, but this is necessary, we need information about this world.” I reasoned.

“We would not dare deceive our saviors. I do not know how many silver and copper pieces we can gather if we do not collect them from everyone, but I believe we can muster up at least three thousand copper pieces.”

“I have no idea what any of that means,” I thought.

“Asking them directly seemed like a mistake. we should have tried a different approach. Besides, I was a lousy worker to begin with, and my job skills were pretty mediocre.” I thought sadly.

It sounded like a large amount, but without knowing the value of money, I could not tell if it was an appropriate sum or not. We had to avoid accepting too high or too low a sum, lest we end up revealing our ignorance.

No, we should have been relieved that they did not offer him "four heads of cattle" or something else grotesque.

Just as he was about to sink into depression, I shook my head and tried to regain my senses.

“Focus! Now is not the time to be upset if you want to help your friend.” I scolded myself.

First, copper and silver pieces were the basic units of currency in this village. Second, there should be other forms of currency which were more or less valuable, but I was not confident that we could draw this information out of these people.

We needed to learn the monetary value of these copper and silver pieces. Without that knowledge, things would be troublesome in the future. However, not knowing the value of money was quite suspicious, and we wanted, no, needed to keep a low profile while we learned more about this world.

That’s the reason why I was thinking as hard as I could to avoid making a big mistake.

“These small coins are hard to carry in large amounts. I’d like something in a bigger denomination, if you can manage it.”

“Our sincerest apologies. If we could pay in gold pieces, we would. However,… the fact is that our village does not use gold pieces…”

I fought back the urge to sigh in relief.

The Chief’s answer went in the direction that he was hoping for.

“How about this: we plan to buy the produce of this village for a reasonable price, so all you need to do is pay us in currency used for trading.”

“Yes, we’d like to see what you’re selling.” I commented.

Ainz secretly opened his inventory under his robe and withdrew a pair of gold coins from YGGDRASIL. One of the coins was decorated by the face of a woman, while the other coin had the face of a man. The former was a coin from after the huge update "Valkyrie’s Downfall", while the latter was a coin from before the update.

Valkyrie's Downfall was a large-scale update that was patched into the DMMO-RPG, YGGDRASIL at a certain point in time long before the game's shutdown. It was considered to be an expansion pack with various new game contents for players to explore, fight or obtain in YGGDRASIL.

I remember that update clearly because it included the Automaton race that Players and NPCs could become. That update allowed me to create Heretic and give him the Gunner job class since it was added for characters to obtain and invests levels into. I liked all the fancy sci-fi guns that were included in the game, I made sure to give Heretic a whole arsenal of weapons because I love variety.

The coins values were the same, but they meant different things to us.

The old coin was one that had followed Ainz ever since he had started playing YGGDRASIL until he had formed the guild Ainz Ooal Gown. The new coins had been released with the update, when Ainz Ooal Gown had been in its golden age. His equipment was almost complete at that point, so those coins simply went into his inventory’s coffers.

I also have old and new coins in my inventory. I just couldn’t bear to part with them.

Ever since he had started out as a skeleton mage, Ainz used his spells to defeat monsters roaming the world and gained gold coins which floated in the air. He soloed dungeons, defeated the vicious monsters within, and earned a huge pile of gold with great effort. After the members of Ainz Ooal Gown completed a dungeon, they sold the data crystals they collected and in exchange, they received these gold pieces, which glowed so brightly...

“God I miss adventuring.” I lamented but put that thought aside.

Momo put the old coin away and held up the new coin.

“...If I used this gold piece to buy something, what could I get for it?”

He placed the gold coin on the table. As one, the Village Chief and his wife stared, their eyes wide.

“This, this is!”

“This is currency used in a land far, far away. Can it be used here?” I asked.

“I should think so… please wait a little.”

Relief came over me as I heard that the coin could be used. Then, we watched as the Chief left his seat, went to his room, and came back with something he had once seen during my history lessons.

That object was called a balance scale.

After that, it was his wife’s turn. She took the gold coin and put it next to a circular object, as though she were comparing their sizes. After she was satisfied, she placed the gold coin on one pan of the balance, and on the other pan went a counterweight.

I seemed to recall that this sort of thing was called a “standardized mass.”

As I went through my memories, I compared them to the wife’s actions and tried to figure out what she was trying to do. The first part should have been comparing his coin to the gold pieces of this country, and next she was trying to confirm its gold content.

It would seem the gold coin was heavier, and the standardized mass rose up. The Chief’s wife put another mass on it, and both sides balanced out.

“It seems to be about twice as heavy as a regular gold piece… perhaps, perhaps if we could scratch the surface…”

“O-Oi! You’re being rude! Please accept my sincerest apologies on behalf of my wife, for saying such foolish things…”

“No wonder. She must have thought it was gold-plated.” I was somewhat offended, but I didn’t see it as worth getting mad about.

“It’s fine… although, if you scratch it and find that it’s pure gold, you’ll take it, no?”

“Ah, no… we are truly sorry for this.”

The Chief’s wife bowed in apology and returned the gold coin.

“Think nothing of it. After all, it’s only sensible to verify the bona fides of any money you’re given. Still, what do you think of this gold piece? Don’t you think it looks like a work of art?"

“I believe that the design is quite elegant.” I said honestly.

“Indeed, it is very beautiful. May I ask the name of the country from which it came?”

“It’s no longer — yes, that country no longer exists.”

“And probably never will again.” I thought bitterly.

“I see…”

“...Well, you’ve confirmed for yourselves that it weighs twice as much as a regular gold piece, but considering its artistic value, this gold piece should be worth more as a result. What do you think?”

“That may be so… but we are not merchants, and we do not know the value of art…”

“I’m not much an artist myself.” I stated apathetically, art class was not my best subject. Inspiration is so hard to come by.

“Hahaha… well, you’re both correct. So, if we were to use this to buy something, it would be worth two normal gold pieces?”

“O-of course.”

“Actually, we have a few more gold pieces like this. What can you sell us for them? Of course, we wish to pay the usual market rate for them. I don’t mind if it’s the same as what a street vendor would charge. By all means, go ahead and inspect these coins. Please—”

“Lord Ainz Ooal Gown! Lord Tempest!”

The Village Chief’s sudden shout made my heart lurch. The Chief’s determined expression seemed harder and more forceful than before.

“...Ainz will do.”

“Just call me Tempest.” I replied casually.

“Ainz-sama, Tempest-sama, then?” The Chief seemed a little surprised at this, but he soon nodded and continued speaking:

“I fully understand what you want to say, Ainz-sama.”

For a moment, I wondered if a giant question mark icon had appeared over our heads. There seemed to be a misunderstanding of some sort, but I had no idea what the Chief was getting at, so I did not know how we would answer him.

“I am very aware that you both do not wish to be seen as cheap, and I understand that you would wish to request an appropriate reward in keeping with the public view of yourself, Sir Ainz, Sir Tempest. Certainly, it would require a great deal of money to obtain your services. Therefore, what else do you both desire besides three thousand coppers?”

I had no idea what the Chief was talking about and my mind was a whirl of confusion. I was silently grateful that I was wearing my helmet. The reason Ainz brought out the gold coin was because he wanted to know what it could buy, and thus gain a rough grasp of market values. How had things ended up like this?

The Chief did not give us any opportunity to cut in and continued:

“However, as I said earlier, this village can only produce three thousand copper coins in cash. Although you both must be suspicious of us, we would not dare hide the truth from our saviors, Ainz-sama, Tempest-sama.”

The Chief’s expression seemed honest and determined. He did not seem to be lying. If it turned out to be a deception, then I could only curse my inability to read people.

“No, I am certain that great men like yourselves could not possibly be content with that sum. Perhaps if everyone in the village gathered their wealth, we might be able to produce sufficient cash to satisfy you both. However,… our village has lost a lot of manpower, and if we paid more than three thousand coppers, we would not be able to survive the coming winter. The same applies with our produce. Many fields will have to be abandoned because we lack the people to work them. If we gave you both our supplies, our lives would be very difficult. Although it pains me to have to ask a favor from our saviors, perhaps… could we… could we pay by installments?”

“Hm? Isn’t this a good chance?” I wondered.

It felt like I had been lost in a dense forest, and then my field of view suddenly expanded before me. Ainz seemed to think about it, or pretend to think about it, and then all I could do was pray it all worked out. After a few seconds, Ainz finally gave his reply.

“I understand. The payment will not be needed.”

“Money will not be necessary.” I said.

“Eh!? But… but why?”

The Village Chief and his wife stared at us, their eyes wide and their tongues tied. Ainz raised his hand, indicating that he still had something to say. He had to consider what he could and could not reveal, and it was quite troublesome. I did not know if he could guide them into telling him what he wanted, but we had no choice but to try.

“...I am a magic caster. I was researching spells in a place called Nazarick, and I have only stepped outside recently.”

“And I’ve been learning magic alongside him as well as practicing my skills with a sword.” I decided to play along with this story.

“I see, so that is why you both are dressed like this. It’s only natural for a warrior and a magic caster to pair together.”

“Ah, mm. That’s right,” Ainz muttered as he touched the Jealous Mask.

What would people on the street think if they saw a magic caster and a warrior walking around in this weird getup?

I thought of the crowded streets of Illinois, and just as I was hoping not to see something like that in our world, I noticed something that I could not understand, which was how YGGDRASIL terms were understood and used here.

The term "magic caster" referred to a lot of things. It included clerics, priests, druids, arcaners, sorcerers, wizards, bards, mikos, talismancers, sages and countless other magic-using classes. In YGGDRASIL, they were all called magic casters. It would be surprising if the exact terminology carried over to this world.

Also, the term “warrior” could apply to any class where one engaged in physical combat. There were archers, assassins, fencers, gunners, knights, monks, paladins, templars, and numerous other warrior-oriented classes. Maybe those occupations exists here like they did in YGGDRASIL?

As we watched their reaction, Ainz replied:

“...We may have said that we did not want a reward, but a magic caster and a warrior use many tools to achieve their aims, including fear and knowledge. These things are all tools for generating profit, but like we said earlier, I was focused on spell research and Tempest was focused on swordplay, so our knowledge of local matters is somewhat lacking. Therefore, we would like to learn about the surroundings from the two of you. In addition, I hope you will not tell anyone about this sale of information. We will accept that in lieu of a reward.”

Nobody would be so nice as to say, “I don’t want anything.” One could say that nothing was more expensive than being free of charge.

Someone who saved another’s life was entitled to a reward for their hard work. Yet, if the savior said they did not want a reward, anyone would find that strange.

Then, the next best thing was to make the other side feel that they had paid in some way, even if it was in an intangible form.

In other words, the best solution to the present situation was to allay their suspicions by having them trade information to us. That would put them at ease at least.

The Chief and his wife nodded, steadfast looks on their faces.

“I understand. We will not let anyone know about this.”

“Thank you.” I said gratefully.

I saw Ainz secretly clench his fist in approval. It would seem the skills he had picked up through working could still be put to use here.

“Excellent. we do not wish to bind you with magic. We shall trust your good nature.”

“Indeed.” I agreed.

Ainz extended an armored hand. The Chief stared blankly at it for a moment before taking the situation in, and he grasped Ainz’s hand.

After that, I breathed a sigh of relief. It would seem shaking hands was a known practice here. It would have been tremendously depressing if the Chief had looked dumbfoundedly at him.

Of course, I did not fully trust them. And I doubted Ainz did either. After all, mouths that were sealed by the promise of benefits could be opened by bigger benefits. If we tried to play on their personalities to keep them quiet, the vagaries of human nature might make them talk. No method was better than the other, so all we could do was take a chance and hope that the Chief’s character would keep his lips sealed. Although, it would be fine even if he did talk. That betrayal would simply be more leverage Ainz and me could use in future dealings with the village.

That said, my instincts told my that they would not betray us. After seeing the earnest gratitude of the Chief and his wife, I believed that they would be loyal.

“Then… can you tell me more about this place?...What, what is this?” Ainz muttered that last part.

“Urk! Is something the matter?” The Chief asked Ainz.

“No, it’s fine. I was simply speaking to myself. Forgive me for alarming you.”

Ainz recovered in an instant and immediately covered himself up. If his body were still human, I bet he’d be sweating buckets by now.

The Chief simply said, “Is that so?” and did not ask further.

Perhaps the Chief had already equated “magic casters” with “weirdos.” Then again, that was better for Ainz...

“Shall I prepare a drink for either of you?”

“Oh, no, I’m not thirsty. Please, don’t trouble yourself.”

“None for me thank you.” I said.

His wife was no longer in the room, but outside — there were many things she had to help with. Only me, Ainz, and the Chief were in the house now.

Ainz first asked about the neighboring countries, and the Chief responded with many names that we had never heard before. Although Ainz seemed prepared for this, he could not help but be surprised after hearing them. But then again, so was I.

At first, I had thought that this world would be designed according to the fundamental principles of YGGDRASIL. After all, we could use YGGDRASIL’s magic here, and there were many connections with YGGDRASIL to. Yet, none of the names I heard were related to YGGDRASIL.

The nearby countries were the Re-Estize Kingdom, the Baharuth Empire, and the Slane Theocracy. These names did not appear in the context of YGGDRASIL, which was inspired by Norse mythology. I’d know, I’ve traveled across the nine worlds of YGGDRASIL and was the World Champion of Asgard.

I felt like the world was spinning and I tried to keep my body from wobbling. I saw Ainz grip the table edge with a gauntleted hand. Although we had expected this world to be an alien one, we could not help but be surprised by it.

The impact was greater than I had expected.

This was the first time I had felt so shaken ever since I had become a Dragonoid.

I tried my best to remain calm and reconsidered what we had heard about those neighboring kingdoms and the local geography.

Firstly, there was the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Baharuth Empire. These countries were on different sides of a mountain range, and to the south of those mountains was a sprawling forest, and at the edge of that forest was this village, under the Re-Estize Kingdom, and the fortress city of E-Rantel.

Relations between the Kingdom and the Empire were bad, and they would fight a battle in the wilderness near E-Rantel almost every year.

To the south was the Slane Theocracy.

The best way to describe the orientation of these countries was to draw a circle, and then divide it up with an inverted T. It seemed confusing, but it was much easier to describe things that way. To the left was the Re-Estize Kingdom, to the right was the Baharuth Empire, and below them was the Slane Theocracy. There were other countries, but the Chief only knew of these three.

The Chief was not sure where exactly this village was placed between the three of them.

In other words—

“...How foolish of me.”

The knights from just now were wearing armor emblazoned with the insignia of the Baharuth Empire, so the Chief believed that they were from the Baharuth Empire. But this area also bordered the Slane Theocracy, so they might have been knights from that country in disguise.

Releasing them all was a mistake. We should have kept one for questioning, but it was too late for that now.

If this was the work of the Slane Theocracy, then we should probably do something on the Empire’s side. On the Kingdom’s side, we should have accumulated enough goodwill with them for rescuing their village, so things should be fine for now.

I sank into thought.

“Were we the only ones who arrived in this world?” I pondered.

Impossible. There was a very high chance other players had come here too. Perhaps Herohero-san was here as well. He needed to think about what would happen if he encountered other players.

If other players had come to this world, they would probably gather up, given the nature of Japanese people. When the time came, we had to do almost anything to blend in. I could give in to anything as long as it did not involve Ainz Ooal Gown.

The problem was what would happen if the other side considered us an obstacle. The possibility was slight, but it could not be discounted.

Ainz Ooal Gown was a guild that had always roleplayed as villains through PKing, and thus they were a much-hated guild. I did enjoy killing asshole players though. I could not be sure that we had shed that negative image. For all I knew, the other players might want to take revenge on us out of a foolish sense of justice and righteous anger.

In order to avoid others declaring a vendetta on us, we had to refrain from doing anything that antagonized the surrounding people. For instance, massacring the local populace — especially innocent civilians — might enrage those players who had not yet lost their humanity. Of course, it would be a different matter if there was a reason which would satisfy them, such as killing the knights who were trying to sack this village.

In any event, it would be better if future actions were taken for a high-sounding reason. That also meant we might have to do things we did not like, but that could not be helped.

If the people we met bore hatred toward Ainz Ooal Gown, then combat would be unavoidable. To that end, we had to draw up a plan and countermeasures if that situation took place. Belle and Demiurge could help with that.

Given the current strength of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick’s defenses, we could easily overwhelm about thirty level one hundred players. In addition, we could use World Class Items in our defense, so it was a nigh-impregnable fortress. We would probably be able to repel invaders like they had in the past.

However, it was easy to see how dire the situation could be without reinforcements. In addition, the trump card of Ainz Ooal Gown — their World Class Items — would drain Ainz’s and my levels every time we unleashed their full power. If we were attacked in succession, the time might come when the World Class Items would become unusable.

I was very clear that wargaming a scenario like this in my head was prone to bias and tunnel vision. However, I was no longer a naive child, and I always considered the worst-case scenario before taking any action. This was simply thinking of how to take care of a problem before it happened.

If we just wanted to scrape by, we could simply live in the mountains like beasts. However, the power we possessed and the mighty name we bore prevented me from doing that.

If we wanted to coexist peacefully with the world, then we would need to deal with problems as and when they came up.

As such, combat and the expansion of fighting power would become a very important topic in future. We had to gather information about this world, as well as news about other players.

“...That should do.”

“It is adequate.” I muttered.

“What happened?” The Chief asked.

“No, it’s nothing. I simply spaced out because things were not as I expected. Right, can you tell me about something else now?”

“Ah, ah yes, I understand.”

The Village Chief started talking about monsters next.

Much like YGGDRASIL, this world had monsters in it. The nearby forest was filled with monsters, and one of them was known as the “Wise King of the Forest.” There were also Dwarves, all sorts of Elves, Goblins, Orcs, Ogres, and the like. Apparently some of the demi-humans had even built their own nation.

“I can’t wait to hunt down some Dragons, Frost Giants, and Lizardmen.” My hatred of these creatures was making me bloodthirsty.

There were people called adventurers who drove off these monsters, and they counted many magic casters among their number. Apparently, these adventurers had guilds of their own in all the big cities.

Apart from that, we also learned about the nearby fortress city of E-Rantel.

According to the Chief, E-Rantel was the biggest city in the area, although he did not know exactly how large its population was. That seemed to be the best place for us to go and gather information.

While the Chief’s words were helpful, there were still many unclear details. Therefore, it would be better to send someone over there to find out, rather than ask the Chief questions.

“Maybe Solution and Belle should go? They’re experts in infiltration and subterfuge.” I thought while trying to formulate a plan.

Finally, there was the matter of language. It was truly surprising that they understood English and Japanese in this new world. As a result, I looked carefully at the Village Chief’s mouth, and discovered that he was not, in fact, speaking English or Japanese. Neither their words or the movements of their mouths matched up with the Japanese or English language.

After that, me and Ainz did some more experiments.

Our conclusion was that someone had fed the people of this world some sort of Translation Konnyaku. However, we did not know who had fed that substance to them.

The language of this world was translated before the other party heard it.

If we could understand what the other person said, then we should be able to communicate with non-human lifeforms, like say, a dog or a cat or a fish. The question now was who had done this? In addition, the Village Chief did not find this strange.

It seemed perfectly natural to him.

—In other words, this was a basic principle of the world. Then again, when one thought about it calmly, this was a magical world, which might run on completely different precepts than the world in which we had been born.

It would seem that the basic knowledge and facts we had learned in our previous lives were no longer applicable here. This was a big problem.

If we were ignorant about this world, there was a chance we might make a fatal mistake. "Ignorance" was synonymous with "disaster," in this case.

Right now, we lacked information about our surroundings. We had to solve this problem quickly, but we had no idea where to begin. Could it be that we had to kidnap someone and make them talk about what they knew? Maybe a criminal or someone nobody will miss? That was not a very workable option.

That being the case, there was only one alternative left to us.

I silently cast [Message] to give my suggestion to Ainz without anyone listening in.

[Message] “...Momo. It would seem we will need to live in a city for a while.” I realized.

[Message] “You may be right Tempest, the best way to gather information about this world is to interact with it’s inhabitants.” Ainz said in agreement as he cut off [Message].

We had to observe and imitate many things in order to learn about the world. We also needed to understand the magic of this world, and many other things about it.

As I thought about this, I heard footsteps from outside the flimsy wooden door. There was a large delay between the sounds of the footsteps, which meant that whoever it was, they were not advancing quickly. Those were the steady, plodding sounds of a grown man’s footsteps.

A knocking came from the door just as Ainz and me turned to it. The Chief could not help but look at Ainz’s face and then at mine. He dared not act of his own accord because he was still explaining things to his saviors, as payment for saving him and everyone else in the village.

“Please, by all means. I was intending to take a break myself. I won’t mind if you step outside.”

“Go ahead and leave if you feel like it.” I said.

“I’m very sorry about this,” the Chief said as he nodded in apology. He headed to the door, and when he opened it, a villager appeared. He looked first to the Chief, then to Ainz, then to me, and said:

“Chief, I’m sorry to interrupt you when you’re talking to our guests, but they’re ready for the burial…”

“Oh…”

The Chief looked to Ainz and me, his eyes begging for his approval.

“It’s fine. There’s no need to worry about us.”

“Your people need you.” I approved.

“Thank you both. Then, tell the others that I will be there soon.”

…

Scene Change: Carne Village:

The burial ceremony was held in a nearby communal graveyard. It was surrounded by a broken-down fence, and within were several circular stone slabs inscribed with people’s names.

The Village Chief recited the verses to ease the spirits of the dead, and the words from his mouth appealed to a god that I had never heard of in YGGDRASIL. It was a prayer that the spirits of the dead would find peace.

It appeared that there were not enough hands to bury all the bodies at once, so they chose to bury some of them first. To me, burying the dead on the day they died was too hasty since funerals took time to plan, but perhaps this was a normal practice for the faiths in this world.

I spotted the sisters we saved among the other villagers — Enri Emmot and her younger sister Nemu Emmot. Their parents’ bodies were among those that would be buried today.

As I watched the villagers from close by, I saw Ainz idly stroked a thirty-centimeter-long wand under his robe. The wand was made of ivory and capped with gold. There were runes over the grip, and it radiated an aura of holiness.

It was a Wand of Resurrection.

It was a magic item which could return the dead to life. Of course, Ainz Ooal Gown did not possess just one of these wands. We had enough to resurrect all the dead in the village, with room to spare.

According to the Village Chief, this world’s magic did not have the power to raise the dead. That being the case, if he used the wand of resurrection, he would create a miracle in this village. However, after the prayer finished, as the burial ceremony neared its end, Ainz returned the wand to his inventory.

We could have brought them back to life especially since Lucifer’s specialty was resurrection, but we chose not to. When I asked Ainz why he wouldn’t resurrect them, Ainz said it was not because he felt that the souls of the dead were the domain of the gods, or some other religious reason. It was simply because he felt that there were no benefits in doing so.

Personally, while I would love to reunite loved ones it was just too risky. In YGGDRASIL, the revival has a penalty, penalty comes with the player's loss of five levels upon resurrection. There was no telling how resurrection operated in this world and we might end up destroying the corpses.

Besides, it was not hard to tell which would be more threatening, a magic caster that could take lives, or a magic caster which could return them. In addition, the chances of the villagers keeping this a secret would be very low, even if we ordered them not to talk about the resurrections.

The power to conquer death was something that everyone craved.

If things were different, we might have used that power to recall people to life. However, we did not have enough information on the local conditions, so it would be unwise to do so now.

“They should be content with the fact that the village was saved,” Ainz muttered as he looked at the Death Knight that was standing behind him.

“Agreed. It’s tragic but we shouldn’t reveal too much too soon. Besides, when your time has come then your time as come.” I said, reluctantly agreeing with Momonga then I turned to look at the new Lightning Djinn I summoned that was standing behind me.

The previous Lightning Djinn I had summoned faded away after an hour and 40 minutes, so I created a new one with the corpse of an enemy knight like how Ainz did with his Death Knight. It still remained here even after 100 minutes had passed.

The Death Knight and Lightning Djinn were another mystery.

In YGGDRASIL, all summoned monsters would vanish after a certain time unless special methods were used in their summoning. We had not used any such methods to summon the Death Knight and Lightning Djinn and their summoning time was long past, but they remained here.

Although I had many hypotheses for this phenomenon, I still did not know enough to come to an answer. My best guess is: If a Death Knight and Lightning Djinn are summoned normally, they will cease to exist after a short time but if they’re summoned in combination with a corpse, the Death Knight and Lightning Djinn seem to become permanent existences. As I was thinking about this, a trio of figures turned up beside us.

One was Albedo, the other was Lucifer Shadows, and the final one was roughly humanoid, but resembled a spider dressed in a ninja uniform. Its eight legs were tipped with sharp blades.

“An Eight-Edge Assassin? Albedo, Lucifer, this is…”

“Peculiar.” I added.

Eight-Edge Assassins are ninja insect monsters that are summoned from YGGDRASIL gold. Sometimes they would appear as ninjas, other times they’d look like giant spiders with ant-like body shapes and glowing green eyes.

Eight-Edge Assassins are sometimes under the command of Cocytus or Heretic.

Ainz and I looked around, but it seemed like none of the villagers were paying attention here. Albedo and Lucifer were one thing but bringing a monster here would make them the center of attraction, even if the burial was going on.

It’s a good thing nobody seemed to think Lucifer was an angel because of her wings. Maybe they thought her wings were fake? Children do like to roleplay.

Just then, I remembered that Eight-Edge Assassins were monsters that could go invisible. In addition, it can suspend itself on a ceiling like a bat. Each of its eight legs allow them to stick to the ceiling, attached with a razor. The moment it leaps towards its prey, it could launch eight simultaneous strikes. Its ability are to kill its prey with a single blow to the head.

“We brought him over because he wanted to pay his respects to the Supreme Beings, Lord Ainz, Lord Tempest.”

“Ya! He really wanted to meet the masters!” Lucifer said in an excited tone.

“Oh, how refreshed my soul is whenever I see the Suprem—”

“—Enough of that. Are you part of the support troops?” Ainz asked.

“Yes. There are four hundred vassals besides me who stand ready to assault the village at any time.”

“Assault? How had it ended up like this?” As I pondered that problem, Ainz began muttering to himself — Sebas had no talent for passing messages.

“We didn’t bring you here to attack villagers!” Lucifer said in a disapproving voice.

“Indeed. That won’t be necessary.” I told the Assassin.

“...There’s no need for an assault, the problem’s already been taken care of. Who’s your commander?” Ainz asked.

“That would be Lady Aura and Lord Mare. Lord Heretic, Lord Toro, Lord Demiurge, and Lady Shalltear remain in Nazarick on alert, while Lord Cocytus is supervising Nazarick’s perimeter security with Lady Belle.”

“I see… well, too many cooks spoil the broth. Everyone but Aura and Mare are to fall back. How many of you Eight-Edge Assassins are there?” Momo asked.

“There are fifteen of us in total.”

“Then you can stay with Aura and Mare.” I said.

After watching the Eight-Edge Assassin nod in acknowledgement, we turned our eyes back to the burial. They were about to fill in the graves, and the two girls were crying non-stop.

…

Scene: Carne Village Funeral:

In order not to interrupt the burial, we strolled leisurely toward one of the roads leading to the village. Behind Ainz and I were Albedo, Lucifer, the Death Knight, and my Lightning Djinn.

Though our information-gathering had been interrupted by the funeral, we had still managed to learn much about the region and the ways of this world. By the time we left the Village Chief’s home, the sun was going down.

It would seem our little hero act — to pay forward the kindness an old friend showed us — had taken more time than expected.

Still, the time spent here had not been wasted. In particular, the more we learned about this world, the more we realized we did not know. It was enough that I was aware of my own ignorance.

As Ainz and I watched the magnificent sunset, I thought about what we needed to do.

It was dangerous to move around in this world when we did not understand anything about it. Ideally, we should finish gathering information and then begin acting in this world under false identities. Although, after saving this village, hiding our identities was impossible.

Even if the knights were exterminated, their parent country would unearth the truth. Much like in the previous world where forensic science was well-developed, this new world might have its own ways of finding out the truth, and they might be very efficient in doing so.

Also, even if they made no investigation, as long as the villagers survived, someone would eventually follow the trail back to us. To prevent a leak, we could take them all into the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. However, the country that these villagers belonged to would not take that lying down, and they might even treat it as a kidnapping.

“Kidnapping someone ain’t cool after all.” I noted.

Therefore, we had stated our names, and let the knights flee.

There were two reasons for doing that.

The first reason was that news about Ainz, and I would get around as long as we did not hole up in Nazarick. Therefore, it would be better if we controlled how the information got out.

The second was because we wanted to spread the word that Ainz Ooal Gown saved a village and slew the knights. In particular, we wanted to let any players from YGGDRASIL hear about it.

Ainz said that the plan was to take up residence in either the Kingdom, the Empire, or the Theocracy.

If there were other players in these countries, there should be some trace of them. In contrast, if Ainz used Nazarick’s personnel to gather this information, it would not only be troublesome, but very risky. For instance, given Albedo’s personality, giving her the wrong kind of orders would end up making us unnecessary enemies.

Therefore, from an information-gathering point of view, joining one of the countries was a very good idea.

It would also be good to have one of them as backing in order to ensure the autonomy of Nazarick. After all, we could not take these countries lightly while I was not aware of their power. In addition, we could not lower our guard as long as we did not know who was the most powerful person in this new world. For all I knew, there might be someone stronger than us among these three nations.

We can’t afford to be reckless.

While there were a lot of drawbacks to becoming part of one of these kingdoms, there were many advantages as well. The question was the capacity in which we would join one of these countries.

I had no interest in being a slave. Neither was I interested in becoming part of a black-hearted enterprise like the one my friend Herohero was in. Therefore, we needed to make our existence known to these factions. After having a closer look at their respective situations and how they treated us, we would move toward the most ideal of the factions.

These were the basics of job-hopping.

In that case, when should we make our move? We could end up exposing our weaknesses while we remained ignorant.

I shook my head as I thought about that, I was getting tired. After all, I had been ceaselessly using my mind for the past few hours, and it was overstressed.

“Haa… let’s leave it at this. We’ve finished everything we need to do here. Albedo, Lucifer, Tempest, let’s go back.”

“Yes, master Ainz.” Lucifer replied cheerfully.

“Sure thing.” I told him.

“Understood.”

Albedo’s reply sounded very tense. There should be no reason for her to be so on edge in a harmless place like the village.

In that case, there was only one reason I could think of for Albedo to be like this.

Ainz quietly asked Albedo:

“...Do you hate humans Albedo?”

“I detest them. Humans are weak and inferior lifeforms. They would look so pretty if I squashed them like bugs… besides that girl.”

Albedo’s words were as sweet as honey, yet their meaning was terribly cruel.

I shook my head in disapproval of her words.

I felt that they did not fit Albedo’s benign, goddess-like beauty. Then again, a pretty face can hide a cruel mind.

I saw Lucifer cross her arms and look away from Albedo in disgust. She must’ve been having the same feelings as me over Albedo’s opinion on humans.

Ainz said:

“I see… I understand how you feel. However, I hope you can control yourself for the time being, because we have to put on a show.”

“We have nothing to gain from antagonizing them Albedo.” I said crossly.

Albedo nodded energetically. As we looked at her, I began to feel frustrated.

Her likes or dislikes would not be a problem for now, but the future was a different matter.

Understanding our subordinates was an important skill we had to master.

I asked Lucifer, “Lucifer, what do you think about humans?”

Lucifer smiled as she spoke, “I like them. All life is precious. But not if they insult or threaten Nazarick or my masters!” Lucifer said with an angry snarl.

“Even angels can be nasty.” I had to remind myself of this.

We began looking for the Village Chief. It was basic manners to bid someone farewell before leaving.

We found the Chief almost immediately, talking to some of the villagers. He had a stern look on his face, but it did not seem normal. Indeed, he seemed to be quite wound up.

“What was happening now?” I thought curiously.

I resisted the urge to go “Cheh,” and then we approached the Chief. After all, we had saved them once; that meant that they were our responsibility.

“...What’s wrong, Chief-dono?” Ainz asked.

The Chief’s face lit up, as though he had glimpsed a golden shiny wire of hope.

“Oh, Ainz-sama, Tempest-sama. It would seem there are some mounted people who look to be warriors approaching us…”

“I see…” Ainz replied.

“Curious.” I said.

The Chief and the other nearby citizens looked at us, worried expressions on their faces.

Ainz gently raised his hand, which filled everyone with relief as he said:

“Leave it to us. Gather all of the survivors into the Village Chief’s house right now. The Chief, I, and my companions will remain here.”

A bell rang, and the villagers gathered. The Death Knight and Lightning Djinn took up a position near the Chief’s house, while Albedo and Lucifer remained behind us, awaiting orders.

In order to dispel the Chief’s unease, Ainz cheerfully said:

“Please be at ease. We will make an exception and handle this for free.”

“Yes. We will help.” I told the Chief in a reassuring voice.

The Chief no longer trembled and smiled bitterly instead. Perhaps he had prepared himself to take this risk.

After a while, we finally sighted many mounted warriors along the road leading to the village. The horsemen slowly entered the square.

“...They aren’t uniformly equipped, and each of them is outfitted differently… are they not regular troops?” Ainz mused as we observed the men and their war gear.

“They might be a special division.” I suggested.

The knights from before had breastplates bearing the sigils of the Baharuth Empire, and they were heavily equipped, each in the same way. While these men were wearing armor as well, their gear varied from man to man. Some wore leather armor, and some did not have their plate armor on, exposing the chainmail underneath.

Some of them wore helmets, while some went bareheaded. About the only thing they had in common was that they each showed their faces. All of them had swords of similar make, but apart from that, they also carried bows, javelins, maces, and other backup weapons.

One could say that they looked like hardened veterans of the battlefield. A less polite way would be to say that they were a ragtag bunch of sellswords.

The riders finally entered the square. There were around twenty of them, and while they were wary of the Death Knight and Lightning Djinn, they formed up neatly before me, Ainz and the Village Chief. A man stepped forward from the rest of the force.

He seemed to be the leader of the horsemen. He looked like the fiercest and most eye-catching one of his men.

The leader’s eyes rested briefly upon the Village Chief before lingering on the Death Knight and Lightning Djinn and then he turned toward Albedo and Lucifer. He took a long time looking at them. However, once he satisfied himself that none of them were going to move, he immediately turned his keen gaze on me and Ainz.

Although the man looking at us seemed to be the sort who made his living by violence, we remained still. A look like that could not hope to raise any ripples on the still lake of my heart.

I did not fear those eyes, but perhaps I was being confident because I could use my powers from YGGDRASIL.

Once satisfied, the leader spoke in a grave tone:

“—I am the Warrior Captain of the Re-Estize Kingdom, Gazef Stronoff. By order of the King, I have been visiting each of the frontier villages to exterminate knights from enemy countries who have been making trouble here.”

His even baritone echoed through the village square, and there was some commotion from the Chief’s house behind us.

“The Kingdom’s Warrior Captain…” I muttered

“Won’t anyone tell me what’s going on?” I thought as Ainz spoke to the Chief, his voice carrying a hint of rebuke:

“...What sort of man is he?”

“According to the traders, he was a man who claimed the championship of the martial arts tournament held before the King, and now he leads the elite warriors who are loyal to the King.”

“Is the man before us truly so amazing…?”

“Is he a great warrior?” I asked because I was hoping he could give me a good fight.

“...I do not know. All I heard were stories.” The Chief said honestly.

I looked closely, and I saw that each of the horsemen had the same emblems on their chests, which resembled what the Chief had said about the Kingdom’s emblems. That said, I did not have enough reliable information to be sure.

Gazef looked at the Chief and said, “You must be the Chief of this village. Can you tell me who are the people beside you?”

I was annoyed that he was talking about us as if weren’t here, but before I could say anything Ainz interrupted the Chief, who was about to answer, before nodding to Gazef and introducing himself.

“There is no need for that. Pleased to meet you, Warrior Captain-dono of the Kingdom. My name is Ainz Ooal Gown, and I am a magic caster. The warrior standing beside me is my companion Tempest. This village was attacked by knights, and so we stepped in to rescue them.”

Gazef immediately dismounted, his armor clattering loudly as he did. He bowed deeply once he was on the ground.

“Thank you both for saving this village. I have no words that can adequately praise your kindness.”

The air seemed to tremble.

The Warrior Captain was a man from a privileged class of society. It was quite shocking that such a man would bow and scrape before a pair of nobodies like me and Ainz, in this world where people were so clearly divided amongst each other. From what I had heard, the concept of human rights was almost nonexistent in this country — no, in this world. A few years ago, the Kingdom still sanctioned the slave trade.

“Slavery really makes my blood boil.” That concept made me sick.

One could tell Gazef’s character from the way he was ready to dismount and bow to Ainz and me despite our differences in status.

“This man is definitely the Kingdom’s Warrior Captain,” I concluded.

“...Please, do not stand on ceremony. In truth, we did this for payment, so no thanks is needed.”

“Oh, a payment. Does this mean that you two are adventurers?”

“That is close enough to the truth.” Ainz said.

“I actually was one once.” I couldn’t help but bring up the hobby I enjoyed most as a Player.

“Oh… I see. You both must be extraordinary adventurers, then. Although, forgive my ignorance, but I have not heard your mighty names before, Lord Gown, Lord Tempest.”

“We travelling, you see, and we just happened to pass by. We are not famous.”

“We enjoy the comfort of solitude.” I put in.

“...Travelling, you say. Though I regret having to waste the time of such great adventurers, could you both please tell me about the blackguards who attacked this village?”

“It would be our pleasure, Warrior Captain-dono. Most of the knights who have attacked this village are already dead, so they will not be able to make trouble for the time being. Shall I go on?” Ainz explained.

“...Already dead... Lord Gown, did you two strike them down?”

After listening to the way Gazef spoke, I realized that this world’s form of address was Western-style, and not Japanese-style. In other words, it went in the order of name, then surname, and not surname, then name. At last, I had solved the mystery of why the Chief looked so baffled when Ainz had asked the Chief to call him Ainz. It was only expected that he would look like that when asked to address someone in such an unfamiliar way.

After realizing his mistake, Ainz covered it up with his salaryman’s thick skin and replied:

“...Well, that is not entirely accurate…”

“We both only killed one each, these two creatures killed the rest.” I said honestly.

Gazef picked up on what we said and turned his eyes toward the Death Knight and Lightning Djinn.. He must have smelled the faded scent of gore and death that came from them.

“I have a couple of questions… may I know who they are?”

“He is a servant that I have created.” Ainz replied.

“And I summoned that Air Creature.” I informed him.

Gazef murmured in approval, and then looked us up and down with a keen gaze.

“Then… how about that mask and helmet?”

“I wear it for reasons known only to a magic caster.”

“I wear this helmet because it completes the armor.” I stated somewhat cheeky.

“May I remove that mask and helmet?"

“Sadly, we must refuse,” Ainz said as he gestured to the Death Knight and Lightning Djinn. “It would not be good if we lost control of them.”

A look of shock flashed across the face of the Chief and gasps came from the villagers hiding within the Chief’s house. Perhaps Gazef had sensed the change in the air and seen the look on the Chief’s face, but Gazef nodded deeply and said:

“I see. Then, we’d best not take them off.”

“Thank you.”

“We appreciate your understanding.” I said politely.

“Then—”

“Before that, I have a request you might not like to hear. This village was recently attacked by knights of the Empire, and if you gentlemen brought your weapons in, it might trigger unpleasant memories in the villagers. May I ask you to place your weapons in a corner of the village square, to put the people at ease?” Ainz told him.

“...It is as you say, Lord Gown. However, this sword was given to me by the King himself. I cannot set it down without his express permission.”

“—Lord Ainz, Lord Tempest, we will be fine.”

“Is that so, Chief-sama… then, please forgive my unreasonable request, Warrior Captain-dono.”

“It’s understandable if your equipment holds special value for you.” I agreed because I know what it feels like to not want to part with gifts received from people you care about.

“No, I see the logic in your thinking, Lord Gown. If this sword had not been personally awarded to me by the King, I would gladly lay it aside. Then, could we sit down and discuss the details. Also, the sky is growing dark, and we would like to rest in this village for the night…”

“I understand. Then, let us return to my home together—”

In the middle of the Chief’s reply, one of the horsemen ran into the square. He was panting heavily and had an urgent report. In a high-pitched voice, the horseman said:

“Warrior Captain! We’ve sighted a lot of people around the village! They’ve surrounded the village and they’re closing in!”

“Oh shit.” I muttered.

…

POV Change: Nigun Grid Luin:

“Everyone, take heed,” a calm voice spoke into everyone’s ears.

“The prey has entered the cage.”

The speaker was a man.

He had no distinguishing features, and he would not stand out in a crowd. However, there was no emotion in his seemingly man-made black sclerae or the scar on his face.

“Offer up your faith to the gods.”

Everyone began their silent prayers, a shortened version of their usual praise to their gods.

They had to spend time in prayer even when operating in another country. This was not complacency on their part, but a symbol of their faith in their gods.

These men who offered everything to the Slane Theocracy and the gods they revered were far more devout than the average citizen of the Theocracy. This was why they could perform cruel acts without the slightest bit of hesitation, and why they felt no guilt for doing so.

After their prayers, the eyes of every man present were as hard and cold as glass.

“Begin.”

With that one single word, they neatly encircled the village in a way that would appear to onlookers as the product of long, hard training.

…

Scene Change: Sunlight Scripture Camp:

These men were a black ops group from the Slane Theocracy. Though their reputation spread far and wide, little was known about their members. They belonged to one of the Six Scriptures who answered directly to the high priests of the Slane Theocracy. They were the Sunlight Scripture whose mission was to exterminate demi-human settlements.

However, there were very few of these men, who were the most involved of the Six Scriptures in combat. There were only around a hundred of them in total.

This was because the recruitment standards for the Sunlight Scripture were very strict.

Entry required the ability to cast third tier divine magic, which was also the highest tier of magic that ordinary magic casters could reach. In addition, prospective recruits had to be in excellent physical condition, and they had to possess a strong will and deep faith.

In other words, they were the elite among other elite combatants.

The man quietly sighed as he watched his men disperse. Once they scattered to take their positions, it would be very hard to be sure of their movements. However, he was not worried about their skillful encirclement of the village.

The Sunlight Scripture’s commander, Nigun Grid Luin, only felt the peace of mind that came with knowing that success was at hand.

The Sunlight Scripture was not used to long-term clandestine operations in the field. As a result, they had missed four chances to finish the mission in the past. They were exceedingly careful every time they closed in on Gazef and his men of the Kingdom, in order to avoid being spotted. If they missed this chance as well, these days of tracking and pursuing would drag on and on.

“Next time… I’d like to ask the other teams for help and leave some of the work to them.”

Someone answered Nigun’s gripes.

“That’s right, we’ve always been specialized in extermination, after all.”

The speaker was one of the men who had stayed behind to protect Nigun.

“I mean, this is a strange mission. Usually, we would have backup from the Windflower Scripture for something as important as this.”

“Indeed, I don’t know why they only deployed us this time round. Still, this will be good experience for us. We can take this as training in infiltrating enemy territory. Hm, for all we know, that was what the people on top intended.”

Nigun said that, but he was very clear that another mission of this nature would be very unlikely.

The orders he had been given were to “assassinate the greatest warrior of the Kingdom, the man famed in the surrounding countries for his matchless might, Gazef Stronoff.”

This was not the sort of task which would usually be assigned to the Sunlight Scripture. Instead, it would have been the province of the Theocracy’s most powerful special operations unit, the Black Scripture, whose members wielded the power of heroes. However, it was not possible this time round.

The reason was top secret, so he could not tell his subordinates, but Nigun knew the truth.

The Black Scripture was protecting the holy relic "Kei Seke Kouku" in preparation against the resurrection of the Catastrophe Dragon Lord, while the Windflower Scripture was busy chasing the traitor who had made off with a relic of the Miko Princesses. Neither of them had the free time to help them.

Nigun unconsciously felt the scar on his cheek.

He remembered the only time in the past where he had forced to flee with his tail between his legs. The face of that girl with the jet-black demonic sword rose in his mind.

Magic could have easily healed the wound without leaving a mark, but he had purposely left the scar to engrave the lesson of that humiliating defeat into his heart.

“...That damnable Blue Rose.”

The members of Blue Rose were citizens of the Kingdom, just like Gazef. Their priestess was the one who most drew his ire. Besides the fact that she was an infidel who worshipped another god, she had stopped Nigun while he was planning to attack demi-humans, and even believed that she was on the side of justice in doing so.

“...Humanity is weak, and it uses any and all means to defend itself. Anyone who doesn’t know that is an utter and complete fool.”

One of the subordinates seemed to have sensed the anger smoldering in Nigun’s glassy black eyes, and interjected:

“But, but the Kingdom is foolish too.”

Nigun did not answer, although he agreed with those words.

Gazef was very strong, so in order to weaken him, they had to deprive him of his panoply.

The Kingdom was divided into the Noble and the Royal factions. Since they were opposed to Gazef, a prominent figure in the Royal faction, the Noble faction was easily led to take political action to eliminate him. They did not even pause to consider that the impetus for their deeds came from a foreign power.

Gazef was a commoner who had risen to his current station by dint of his swordplay, and so the nobles despised him.

And that had led to this conclusion.

The Kingdom’s trump card would soon be lost by their own hands.

That was a supremely foolish move to Nigun.

They — the Slane Theocracy — might be divided into six sects, but whenever they needed to act, they did so as one.

One reason for that was because everyone respected each other’s gods. The other was because everyone knew that there were many inhuman tribes and monsters in this world, and that they would be in danger if they did not work together.

“...Which is why everyone should walk the path of the righteous teachings together. Humanity should not fight amongst itself but work hand in hand to bring about a better and brighter future.”

Gazef would be the sacrifice for that.

“...Can we kill him?”

Nigun did not mock his subordinate’s unease.

Their prey was the Kingdom’s Warrior Captain — the strongest man in the region — Gazef Stronoff.

Eliminating him would be more difficult than attacking and exterminating the inhabitants of a huge goblin village. In order to dispel his underlings’ fears, Nigun calmly replied:

“It will be fine. Right now, he does not possess any of the Kingdom’s treasures, the ones which he is permitted to bear. Without them, killing him will be a piece of cake… no, it would be better to say that without them, this is our only chance to kill him.”

The Kingdom’s Warrior Captain, Gazef Stronoff, was famed as the strongest fighter in the land. But there was a reason for that reputation beyond his extraordinary swordsmanship.

That reason was the five heirlooms of the Kingdom. Although only four of them were known, he was permitted to bear all of them.

The Gauntlets of Vitality, that made their user immune to fatigue. The Amulet of Immortality, which constantly regenerated his wounds. The Guardian Armor made of adamantite and enchanted to ward off critical hits. Razor’s Edge, the sword created and enchanted in pursuit of sharpness, which could slice through armor like the proverbial hot knife through butter.

Even Nigun could not hope to triumph in a head-on attack against Gazef Stronoff, whose offensive and defensive ability increased astronomically when he used those items. No, it might well be that no human could defeat him when he was like that. However, he did not have those treasures with him now, so this was a great chance for Nigun.

“And then… we also have a trump card of our own. This is a battle we cannot possibly lose.”

Nigun patted his chest lightly.

In this world, there were three types of magic items which fell outside the usual types and classifications.

The first kind were the relics from five hundred years ago, left behind by the Eight Greed Kings who had conquered the world in an instant.

The next kind came from the Dragons, who were once the masters of the world before they were decimated by the Eight Greed Kings. The most powerful Dragons, the Dragon Lords, made the secret treasures of dragon kind.

And the third kind were the keystones of the Slane Theocracy, the artifacts left behind from when the Six Gods descended upon the world six hundred years ago.

Those were the three types.

What Nigun had in his breast pocket now was a rare treasure that very few people in the Slane Theocracy possessed. In other words, it was Nigun’s secret weapon.

Nigun glanced at the metal band on his wrist. Numbers floated up from its surface, indicating that the appointed time had come.

“Then… begin the operation.”

Nigun and his subordinates began casting spells.

They summoned the highest-ranking angels their magic would permit.

…

Scene Change: Carne Village:

“I see… so there were people out there.”

Gazef peeked out at the people surrounding the village from inside the darkened house.

He could see three people within his field of vision. They were slowly advancing on the village while maintaining an even separation from each other.

They were unarmed and were not wearing heavy armor. However, that did not mean that they were pushovers. Many magic casters disliked such equipment and preferred lighter gear. This suggested that they were magic casters.

However, it was the winged monsters floating beside them which confirmed their vocations.

Angels.

Gazef had informed me and Ainz that Angels were monsters summoned from another world, and many people — particularly, the citizens of the Slane Theocracy — believed them to be messengers of the gods. However, the priests of the Kingdom ruled that these so-called angels were merely summoned monsters.

While these religious disputes were part of the reason why the countries were set against each other, Gazef felt that their status as divine messengers was secondary to their strength as monsters.

To Gazef, angels and demons, their similarly-ranked counterparts, were stronger than many other monsters summoned using magic of a similar tier. Most of them had special abilities and some could even use magic. They were troublesome foes, in his reckoning.

Of course, that depended on the individual angel. Not all of them were difficult to beat.

However, the angels this time round, with their shining breastplates and flaming swords, were of a type that was unknown to him.

Ainz and I were watching them with him from the side. He asked Gazef, who did not know anything and could not gauge their strength:

“Who are these people? What do they want? I don’t think there should be anything that valuable in this village...” Ainz wondered.

“Maybe they want something special?” I speculated.

“Lord Gown, Lord Tempest, neither of you know either? ...Well, if it is not wealth they seek, then there can only be one other answer.”

We locked eyes with Gazef.

“They must really hate you, Sir Warrior Captain.” I told him in a sarcastic manner.

“It comes with the job of Warrior Captain, Lord Tempest. However,… this is troubling. Judging by the way the other side has so many people who can summon angels, they must be from the Slane Theocracy… and it’s clear that the people carrying out this operation must be a special operations unit… the legendary Six Scriptures. It would seem that both in numbers or ability, the opposition is superior to us.”

Gazef shrugged, indicating the difficulty he was in. He might have seemed merely depressed on the surface, but inside, he must’ve been seething with anger and panic.

“Well, they’ve certainly gone to a lot of trouble, using the Noble faction to strip me of my gear. However, it’s troublesome for that snake of a man to remain in the courts, so I guess it should be my good fortune to be able to recognize his villainy here. Still, I didn’t expect the Slane Theocracy to have their eyes on me…”

Gazef snorted.

He did not have enough men, he was under-equipped for a battle like this, and he had no plan in mind. In short, he had nothing. Although, there might still be a trump card he could use.

Or four in this case.

“...Is that an Archangel Flame? It looks similar enough, but… what is a monster like that doing here… could it have been summoned by magic too? That means…”

Gazef turned to look at the mumbling Ainz. With a hopeful look on his face, he asked:

“Lord Gown, if it is all right with you and your companion, would either of you be willing to let me hire you?”

There was no answer, but Gazef could feel the weight of Ainz’s gaze beneath the mask.

“You may name your price and I will meet it.”

“...Please permit me to refuse.”

“...Even the loan of that knight and creature you both summoned would be fine.”

“...I must refuse that as well.”

“I see… then, what if I conscripted you, in accordance with the Kingdom’s laws?”

“That would be the worst decision you could make… I did not plan to say such harsh words, but if you insist on using the authority of the Kingdom to conscript us, then we would be compelled to put up a bit of resistance.”

I decided this was the time for me to step in, I couldn’t just do nothing when there was going to be a big fight.

“Actually, I am willing to consider your offer Warrior Captain.” I said to the surprise of both Ainz and Gazef.

Gazef looked at me.

“Do you mean that Lord Tempest?” Gazef asked half-confused, half-hopeful.

“Yes. I will face them by myself.” I said bluntly.

“Tempest…” Ainz started to speak but I cut him off by raising my armored hand.

“Ainz, I need to know how strong the enemy is and nothing you say will make me change my mind…” I said with a glare, but I softened after I realized that my friend was just being concerned about me. “Look, if things get too rough, I’ll flee quickly. Does that sound good?” I asked while grinning underneath my helmet.

Ainz said nothing for a moment then replied, “You really are quite stubborn. You know that right?”

I just smirked at that and then said, “Don’t act like you don’t love it.”

“Master Tempest,” Gazef cut in. “Are you sure you will face them without assistance? Will you bring your creature to fight by your side?”

I shook my head, “No, the Lightning Djinn will stay here and protect the village. I will try to return swiftly Warrior Captain.” I started marching off after saying that.

Ainz decided to send me a [Message].

[Message] “Make sure you don’t do anything too reckless Tempest.” Ainz said sternly.

[Message] “Relax Momo, I’ll gauge their strength and see if they pose a threat to us. Also, keep the villagers safe while I’m gone” I replied casually.

[Message] “Fine, just be careful.” Momo replied gently.

[Message] “Love you too mom.” I said sarcastically.

I immediately cut off the [Message] and headed straight toward the enemy.

…

Scene Change: Ainz’s POV:

Ainz quietly watched Tempest’s back shrinking into the distance as he walked away. Gazef went to tell his men that Tempest is confronting the Slane Theocracy in their place.

Although their master seemed to be thinking about something, Albedo and Lucifer did not inquire further.

“...Haa… when I first saw the humans here, I could not help but think of them as insects… but after speaking with them, I have come to be fond of them, like small animals.”

“Is that why you swore on your glorious name to protect them?”

“Perhaps… no, I should say that it was in response to how Gazef would bravely ride to his death...”

Ainz admired it.

He admired Gazef’s determination, his strength of will that he did not have. Now Tempest would fight in his place.

“...Albedo, Lucifer, order the servants to search out the ambushers around us and knock them out once they are found.”

“Yes master!” Lucifer replied with a toothy grin.

“I will do so at once… Lord Ainz, the Village Chief and the others are here.”

As Ainz turned to look at Albedo and Lucifer, he caught sight of the Chief and two other villagers coming over.

They reached Ainz’s side, panting heavily. Filled with tension and unease, the Chief spoke immediately, as though breathing were a luxury he could not afford.

“Lord Ainz, what should we do? Why did Lord Tempest leave us?”

The Chief’s words were filled with fear, but there was an undercurrent of anger there as well.

“...He is doing what he must do, Chief-dono… The foe has their eye on the Warrior-Captain-dono, and with him here, the village would become a battlefield. The enemy will not let you flee either. Tempest went to confront them to prevent any of the Warrior Captain’s soldiers from dying. He left this place for your sake.”

“I see, so that was why Lord Tempest left… Then, then should we remain here?”

“Of course not. They will come to kill you if they get past Tempest. As long as you remain within their encirclement, you will have nowhere to run. However,… while the foe is dealing with Tempest, you will have a chance to flee. You should take it.”

So that was why Tempest left to face them. He planned to use himself as bait and distract the enemy with a head-on attack.

The Chief red-facedly lowered his head as he feared for Tempest’s chances. The man was facing a powerful enemy just to give them a chance to flee.

“I can’t believe it has come to this… then, Lord Ainz, what should we do now?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“We live near the forest, but there’s no guarantee that we won’t be attacked by monsters. We were just lucky and thought that this place was safe, so we gave no thought to self-defense, and in the end, not only did we lose our friends and loved ones, but even became a burden…”

Now it was not just the Chief, but the villagers behind him who had looks of regret on their faces.

“That could not be helped either. Your attackers were professional soldiers. If you had tried to resist, you might have all been dead before I got here.”

Ainz was trying to comfort the villagers, but none of them felt comforted at all. The fact was that no matter what pretty words he said, the loss of the villagers was an undeniable tragedy. All they could hope for was for time to heal their wounds.

“Village Chief-dono, there is no more time. You must move quickly so as not to waste the Tempest’s determination.”

“I see… then, Lord Ainz, what will you do?”

“...I will stay here and observe the situation, and then wait for a good time to escort you all away.”

“We are always making trouble for you, Lord Ainz, really, we…”

“...Think nothing of it. Because I made a promise to a friend… in any case, gather all the villagers into one of the larger houses. I will further protect it with magic.”

…

Scene Change: Sunlight Scripture POV:

Nigun and his men began casting all the high tier spells that were used to summon Angels in order to accomplishment this assignment. They didn’t care who the target was, or at least they shouldn’t, they were the disciples of the Gods and were doing their duty, all they had to concern themselves with was serving the Gods faithfully. So, when a large gust of wing hit them, followed by the appearance of a huge armored figure, they felt nothing but confusion and disdain at the Warrior Captain’s cowardice.

“Who are you? And why are you here? Did you perhaps come here to beg for your life?” Nigun shouted so the figure could hear him.

“I’m here to find out who it is I’m speaking to. I do not do business with people I don’t know.” I replied, my tone calm and confident.

“What is your business?” The blonde man asked.

“You’re here for the Warrior Captain, Gazef Stronoff, is that correct?” I asked.

“Indeed. I am Nigun Grid Luin, captain of the Sunlight Scripture of the Slane Theocracy. Do you seek to aid us?”

“Since you introduced yourself, I will do the same thing. My name is Tempest, but the name you should remember is the name of my leader, Ainz Ooal Gown.”

“Where is Stronoff.” Nigun asked in a demanding tone.

“He is in the village because I agreed to take his place. So, stop worrying about him and worry about yourselves now.” Tempest said in a chilling voice.

“Did you come here to mock us? Men of the Gods!” Nigun sneered.

“No. You’re wasting my time. I came to fight you, and unless you plan on doing so, then I will simply leave.”

Tempest took a step forward.

It was just a single step, but Tempest’s body seemed to swell massively before their eyes. Cowed by him, the men of the Sunlight Scripture reflexively took a step back.

“Ahh…”

Several hoarse cries came from around Nigun.

They were cries of fear.

His presence was filled with an unimaginable power. This was the first time Nigun had been faced with such might. Therefore, he could understand his men’s fear.

Nigun was a powerful individual himself, a veteran of many battles who had grazed the edge of death countless times, who had taken many lives. He could feel the might radiating from the mysterious warrior, an oppressive, potent pressure. It must have been worse for his men.

What kind of being was he?

What was the true identity of this swordsman? Who was the man beneath the helmet?

Once more, Tempest ignored Nigun’s panic and spoke coldly:

“There is no point in lying to those that are about to die.”

Tempest took another step forward. He looked like he was about to approach them so he could cut them down with the giant sword on his back..

A thrill of cold ran from the bottoms of Nigun’s feet to the top of his head. He had felt this countless times in his struggles along the edge of life and death. It was a sign of impending doom.

“Have the angels charge him! Don’t let him get close!”

Nigun’s voice broke slightly as he shouted his orders. It sounded more like a scream.

It was not to raise his men’s spirits. He was simply afraid of Tempest.

Nigun was frightened and enraged. How dare he waste the time of those loyal to the Gods. He must’ve been a mad man who came here to die! That is the only explanation for this absurd behavior.

If that is what he seeks then I shall end his suffering.

Two Archangel Flames flapped their wings in response to Nigun’s command, launching an attack.

The angels flew straight up to Tempest and stabbed at him with their flaming swords.

Tempest, who was standing before him, should have blocked that attack. And so, all of the Sunlight Scripture, who had been predicting that course of action, could not believe their eyes. It was not that anything happened. On the contrary—

Nothing happened.

Indeed, the man called Tempest took no action. He simply allowed the angels to run him through. He did not dodge, block, pull out his sword, or try to run away. Nothing happened.

Their shock became mockery.

That act, pretending to be some mighty figure, was nothing but a bluff. It was not that Tempest did not wish to block it, but that Tempest could not respond in time to the high-speed attack of the Archangel Flame. Now that the truth was out, they did not seem like anything special at all.

His men breathed sighs of relief. Nigun, who felt quite silly for being so afraid, spoke to Tempest.

“How unsightly. To think he would try to scare us with a bluff…”

Suddenly, a question came to mind.

Why was Tempest’s corpse still standing?

“...What are you doing? Call back the angels. He can’t fall down with those swords stuck in him.”

“But, but we’ve already given the order.”

His subordinates’ confused voices startled Nigun, and he looked at Tempest again.

The angels were desperately flapping their wings, like butterflies caught in a spider’s web.

The two angels slowly moved to the side. However, their movements were very strange. It looked as though someone was pushing them aside.

Following that, the body of Tempest — which had been blocked by the angels — appeared once more from the gap between them.

“…This is the best you can do? Have weak angels attack me?”

The calm voice filtered into Nigun’s ears.

He could not comprehend the sight before him.

He was stabbed through his chest and abdomen, but Tempest was still standing, as though nothing were wrong.

“Impossible…” one of Nigun’s subordinates moaned, giving voice to the words in Nigun’s heart.

Judging from the angle of the angels’ swords, they had to be fatal wounds. Even so, Tempest did not seem to be in any pain.

That was not the only shocking thing.

Tempest was gripping each of the angels by the throat. The angels struggled against him, but Tempest did not let them go.

“Impossible…”

Someone was muttering to themselves. Angels summoned from magic had bodies created from their summoners’ mana, so they were definitely not light. They weighed more than a grown man, and then there was the weight of their armor to consider as well. There was no way they could be lifted up by the throat so easily.

Granted, a well-trained warrior, with a stout and muscular body, might be able to do it. Apparently, is armor and weapon weren’t just for show. He might even be a mightier warrior than Gazef Stronoff.

But how could he get stabbed but not show any signs of being injured. Why was this happening? Why did he seem completely unfazed, even after being impaled?

“...There must be some sort of trick.”

“Ah, definitely, how could anyone be fine after being run through by a sword!?”

Panic and fear spread through the Slane Theocracy’s special forces unit. They were all veterans of numerous battles and had experienced many dangers in the past, but this was a sight they had never seen before. Not even the angels that Nigun could summon were capable of such a feat.

The doubtful mutterings about how he did not seem to be in pain and was speaking normally crept into Nigun’s ears.

“High Tier Physical Nullification — a passive skill that negates the attacks of weapons with low data content and low tier monsters’ attacks. It only protects against attacks of up to level sixty — in other words, attacks above level sixty can harm me. It is an all-or-nothing ability… to think it would actually be useful here. Well then… these angels are in my way.”

Holding an angel in each hand, Tempest slammed them both into the ground. There was a thunderous crash, and the earth trembled from the impact — a testament to Tempest’s supernatural strength.

The angels died instantly, reverting to countless dancing motes of light which vanished into the air. Of course, the swords stuck in Tempest vanished as well.

“If I learn how you named these angels, I can then understand how you can all use spells from YGGDRASIL. But let us leave this aside for now, so I can focus on killing you.”

As Tempest slowly straightened up, he was still talking about things which nobody could make sense of.

However, that only intensified the Sunlight Scripture’s fear of his mysterious power.

Nigun gulped.

“All right, we’ll end this nonsense here. Are you satisfied now? Since it looks like you want to fight, then it shall be my turn.”

Tempest opened those hands of his, those hands which had crushed two angels to death. He seemed to be showing them that he had nothing in them.

His voice carried clearly through the bone-chilling silence, into the ears of everyone present.

“Are you ready? —There’s going to be a massacre.”

A sudden spike of cold pierced his spine, followed by a surge of nausea. Nigun, the hardened killer who had presided over many slaughters, was now feeling something that he had never felt before.

He had to run. He had no way of beating Tempest, so doing battle with him would be very dangerous.

However, Nigun struggled to shake that feeling away. He had cornered his prey Gazef by luring him to this village— how could he let him get away now?

Still, a warning resonated from the depths of his soul. Nigun shouted his order:

“All angels attack him! Hurry!”

Every one of the Archangel Flames shot toward Tempest like bullets.

“Such a lively lot we got.”

Nigun could hear the cool, calm voice of someone who was being attacked by angels but did not care. Tempest was surrounded by so many angels that nobody could even see him, yet still his voice did not carry even the slightest hint of worry.

It looked like he would be impaled by countless blades — no, Tempest’s spell took effect before that.

“「Thor’s Wrath」.”

The air shuddered.

Electricity crackled through the sky as if the Heaven’s themselves were in a fury. It only lasted for an instant, but it had an immediate and obvious effect.

“Im-Impossible…”

Someone muttered those words, carried by the wind. They could not believe what was happening before their eyes.

The angels, over forty of them, had been annihilated by the lightning.

Their opponent had not used dispel magic to neutralize the summons. The angels that were blown away by the lightning had taken damage. In other words, Tempest had used a powerful spell to wipe out all the angels in one fell swoop.

But how could a warrior cast magic? He should’ve focused all his time practicing his swordsmanship and honing his physique.

Nigun brushed these thoughts aside and tried to refocus his mind on the situation.

Nigun knew that the members of the strongest special ops group, the Black Scripture, could also eliminate this many angels. In other words, all he had to do was treat Tempest as an opponent on their level. While he might be as strong as a member of the Black Scripture, he had the advantage of numbers on his side, so victory was still possible.

However, could those members of the Black Scripture take care of all these angels with just one spell?

Nigun shook his head to clear away his doubts. He could not think of that question. If he got his answer, then he would truly be done for. Therefore, Nigun reached inside his coat, and touched the item within to give himself courage.

He fervently believed that as long as he held it, everything would be fine.

However, his subordinates did not have the same source of moral support that he did.

“U-Uwaaaah!”

“What, what the hell!?”

“It’s a monster!”

Once they realized their angels were useless, they wailed and fell back upon the spells that they knew and trusted.

“「Charm Person」, 「Iron Hammer of Righteousness」, 「Hold」, 「Fire Rain」, 「Emerald Sarcophagus」, 「Holy Ray」, 「Shockwave」, 「Confusion」, 「Charge of Stalagmite]」, 「Open Wounds」, 「Poison」, 「Fear」, 「Word of Curse」, 「Blindness」...”

All kinds of spells rained down on Tempest.

Yet, even as the storm of magic lashed against him, Tempest was unmoved.

“Well, all of these are familiar spells… who taught them to you people? The Slane Theocracy perhaps? Someone else? I have more questions I want to ask you now.”

Not only could he slaughter all their summoned angels in one move, their spells were also incapable of harming him.

Nigun felt like he was trapped in a nightmare.

“Hyaaaaah—!”

One of the men screamed wildly as he saw that his spells were ineffective. In desperation, he pulled out a sling and loaded it with a bullet. Although Nigun doubted the effectiveness of such a projectile when even an angel’s sword was useless, he did not stop the man.

The bullet that could easily shatter bone sped toward Tempest.

It was followed by a sound. That sound was like an explosion.

An instant.

It had happened in an instant.

Tempest held his hand out just before the bullet could hit him. Surprisingly, despite the powerful impact, his hand did not get blown off or even hurt at all.

Without any delay, he threw the bullet back at his attack with great force.

After that, the man with the sling slowly collapsed to the ground.

“...Huh?”

One of the men went over to inspect his dead comrade, and he shouted:

“H-his head and torso have been smashed in!”

“...What? Smashed… don’t tell me it’s the sling bullet he threw!”

“Why had he been killed by his own projectile?”

Just then, the wind carried a voice into the puzzled Nigun’s ears.

“So sorry, it appears I got carried away. Truth be told that attack wouldn’t have hurt me in the slightest but being hit with thrown objects is so irritating I couldn’t help but swat it away.”

“Ngk! Puh! Principality of Observation! Get him!”

In response to Nigun’s orders, the angel that had been standing by up till now suddenly spread its wings and flapped, propelling itself forward.

The Principality of Observation was an angel in full body armor. It held a mace in one hand and a round shield in the other. A garment that looked like a long skirt covered its legs.

The Principality of Observation was stronger than the Archangel Flames, but it had not been deployed into battle until now because of its special skill. In accordance with its name, the Principality of Observation had the ability to raise the defense of all its allies. However, this ability lost its effect once the angel moved, so the wise decision would be to order the Principality of Observation to hold its ground.

The fact that Nigun had ordered it to attack was a sign that he was grasping at straws. He had to clutch at anything which might turn out to be a lifeline, even if it ended up being chaff.

As ordered, the angel drew up in front of Tempest, and raised its shining mace. Tempest nonchalantly pulled out the giant sword on his back and raised it in a sideways grip with both hands to block the attack.

The angel raised its mace again to strike him down, but Tempest took advantage of the wide opening it left when it attacks and moved his grip on his sword from a sideways grip to a vertical one in a quick and fluid move.

Before the angel could begin its second attack, he swung his sword and cleaved the angel in half.

The Principality of Observation turned into motes of light as it faded away.

No traces were left behind. The previous scene — that of the angel’s attack and the specks of light — felt like they had been illusions, like they had never happened.

“How, how could this be.”

“In just one hit…”

“Hiiiiiiii!”

“Im-Im-Impossible!!!!!” Nigun shouted amidst his confusion.

He did not even know he was shouting. He was simply converting his thoughts into words. It did not feel like shouting to him.

The Principality of Observation was a high tier angel whose offensive and defensive strength were in a 3:7 ratio. It boasted the strongest defense of all other angels in its tier.

In addition, Nigun’s natural-born talent, 「Enhance Summoned Monster」, could improve the stats of any monster Nigun summoned. As a result, there were very few people who could defeat a Principality of Observation summoned by Nigun.

Nigun had never seen anyone defeat it with just one spell. Even the Black Scripture, whose members’ power pressed against the limits of humanity, could not do it. In other words, Tempest’s power exceeded that of mankind.

“It can’t be! It’s impossible!! Nobody can defeat a high tier angel with just one attack!!! What kind of man are you, Tempest!!!!? It’s impossible that nobody’s heard of you before!!!!! What is your real name!!!!!!?”

There was no trace of calm left in Nigun, just his wild screaming in the hope of denying reality.

Tempest just laughed. Under the light of the setting sun, it looked like his golden armor was sparkling.

“Hahaha, you don’t even know what’s possible and what isn’t. There are monsters FAR stronger than your angels.”

Silenced reigned in the air as they awaited the answer. Tempest’s voice was as clear as a bell:

“Like I said before. My name is Tempest. That is not an alias.”

In the face of Tempest’s hubris, Nigun was unable to rebut what he was hearing. It was something he did not understand from a man he did not know. That was the situation he was in.

Nigun was starting to get annoyed by his rapid breathing.

The sound of grass rustling in the wind was annoying too. His heartbeat sounded especially loud. He was breathing heavily, like he had been running for a long time.

Words of reassurance began appearing in his head. However, the sight of Tempest being stabbed with swords, as well as his mass slaughter of angels with just one spell, were telling Nigun something else.

“—That is a monster beyond my wildest imaginings. I could never hope to defeat it.”

“Cap-Captain Nigun, what, what should we do...?”

Nigun only snarled at that question because he couldn’t form an answer.

Nigun only managed to calm down after he could no longer see the face of the man who asked him the question.

Losing his cool in front of an unknown monster like this was a very bad thing.

The sun was slowly falling below the horizon, and darkness threatened to swallow the world. It felt like Death itself was opening its maw to devour everything. Nigun tried to force his fear back, and gave an order:

“All of you protect me! Protect me if you want to live!”

Nigun brought the crystal out in his trembling hand. His subordinates, usually vigorous and nimble, were chained down by fear and their movements were slow. Even these fearless men would hesitate when ordered to become a shield against a monster like the one which stood before them. However, he had to have them buy him some time, no matter what.

The magic sealed within the crystal could summon the most powerful angel known to man. It was an angel that had single-handedly destroyed a Demon God that rampaged throughout the land two hundred years ago.

It was an angel of the highest order, that could easily destroy a city.

Casting the spell to summon that angel again required an incalculable amount of money and manpower, but Tempest, this mysterious being, was worthy of being eliminated by its power. More importantly, it would be worse if the crystal was taken without the spell being cast.

This was what Nigun told himself.

He concealed his fear that he would become a lump of meat like his deceased underling.

“I am going to summon an angel of the highest order, hurry up and buy me some time!”

Once they realized the truth, his subordinates moved swiftly.

Tempest, who was facing them, should have noticed the flames of hope blazing up. However, he made no move, instead babbling about some nonsense to himself.

“...Could that be a spell-sealing crystal… and from its brilliance, it should be something that can seal anything except a super tier spell. So, they have an YGGDRASIL item like that as well… that being the case, what kind of angel can they summon… Seraph class? It’s not like I share Ainz’s vulnerability to holy magic and while I doubt they can bring out a Seraph Empyrean, if they manage to summon a Seraph Empyrean, I might have to fight them seriously. Or rather… could it be a monster unique to this world?”

While Tempest held his ground, Nigun ritually broke the crystal in his hand, and a brilliant radiance spilled forth.

A hidden sun seemed to have risen upon the land, dying the grass a blinding white. A dull fragrance filtered into everyone’s noses.

The legendary angel descended upon the earth, and Nigun exulted:

“Behold! The glorious visage of the highest angel! Dominion Authority!”

It was a mass of many shining wings, and among them were a pair of arms that held a scepter, symbolizing royal authority, but neither its head nor legs were visible. Though it looked quite disturbing, anyone could tell this was a sacred being. In the moment it appeared, the surrounding air turned bright and clear.

The advent of this supreme incarnation of goodness drew wild cheers from everyone who saw it. The blood of Nigun’s men boiled with excitement.

Now, they can kill Tempest.

This time, he would be the one to be afraid.

He would learn his foolishness before the power of the gods.

In the face of their jubilance, Tempest barely managed to get a sentence out:

“This… this is it? This is what you were saving…? This is your final trump card that you were planning to use on me?”

As he heard Tempest’s surprised tone, Nigun, who had been extremely uneasy, breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, his heart was filled with joy as he replied:

“Indeed! Your fear is only natural. After all, this is what an angel of the highest order looks like. While using it here seems like somewhat of a waste, I have determined that you are worthy of its divine greatness!”

“Is that so?” Tempest asked.

Tempest slowly raised his armored hand and rested it on top of his helmet. To Nigun, it looked like a gesture of despair.

“Tempest! The truth is, you deserve respect for forcing me to summon this most exalted of angels. Be proud of your fearsome strength, magic caster!”

Nigun nodded deeply, and continued:

“Personally speaking, I would like to bring you into our fold. If you are truly powerful… however, I am not allowed to do so on this mission. At the very least, I shall remember you — the mighty warrior who made me decide to summon the mightiest of angels.”

However, the response to Nigun’s praise was a cold, annoyed voice:

“Really this is… a waste of my time.” Tempest said.

“What was that?”

Nigun had no idea what Tempest was saying. To Nigun, Tempest was little more than a sacrifice to the highest order of angel, which humanity could not possibly defeat. Yet, his attitude seemed too relaxed for that.

“Clearly I was worried for nothing if all you can do is summon weak monsters to fight me… this is beyond embarrassing.”

Nigun’s mind could not comprehend what he was saying.

“How can you act like that in front of the angel of the highest order!? No way, you must be lying!” Nigun shouted, He could not believe that Tempest was completely ignoring Dominion Authority.

His calm attitude of absolute superiority made the surging joy in Nigun’s heart vanish. In its place was terror and unease.

“Could it be that Tempest is more powerful than this mightiest of angels?” Nigun thought.

“No! Impossible! It cannot be! Nobody can be stronger than the highest-placed of the angels! This is a being which can defeat a Demon God! In the face of a foe that humanity cannot beat — it’s a bluff! It must be nothing more than a bluff!”

It would seem Nigun could no longer control his emotions.

He could not, would not acknowledge this. He could not believe that a man who could defeat Dominion Authority was not only an enemy of the Slane Theocracy but was standing right in front of him.

“Use it! Smite him with your divine power by using 「Holy Smite」!”

This was magic of the seventh tier and above, a realm humanity could not reach. Even the large-scale rituals in the Slane Theocracy could not cast it, but this most exalted of angels, Dominion Authority, could do it by itself. That was why it was ranked among the highest order of all angels.

The magic that Nigun ordered to be cast, the seventh tier 「Holy Smite」, was such a mighty spell.

“So, your making your big move. Go ahead, try and hurt me. I won’t try anything. That should make you happy, right?”

However, Tempest’s relaxed attitude was like a pedestrian letting another person walk past him.

His casual attitude filled Nigun with fear.

This angel of the highest order had once defeated the Demon Gods of legends. Its omnipotent power was enough to qualify it as the mightiest being on the continent. It was invincible.

Yet, if someone could defeat it...

If the mysterious magic caster before him could do it, it would mean that this mysterious person was a far stronger being than a Demon God.

Such a person could not exist.

In response to its summoner’s wish to use its most powerful attack, Dominion Authority shattered its scepter. The fragments rose up into the air and slowly orbited its body.

“Interesting. So, this is a once-per-summoning special skill that it uses to augment its spell power. It appears that this Dominion is about the same as the one in YGGDRASIL…”

“「Holy Smite」.”

The spell was cast, and a pillar of light broke through the sky.

With a loud whoosh, a seemingly endless cascade of holy blue-white radiance flooded down from the heavens, submerging Tempest, who simply raised one arm to shade his eyes.

The seventh tier of magic — a height humanity could not hope to attain.

This sacred power would annihilate all evil beings, and even good entities would meet the same fate. The difference was only if they were reduced to sightless atoms, or if there would actually be remains left behind. This was the awesome power of magic that exceeded the realm of humanity.

No, it would be strange if that were not the case.

Yet — he was still there.

Tempest, the monster, was not blasted into glowing ash, sprawled on the ground, or pulverized into meat jelly, but he was still standing nonchalantly, and even laughing:

“—Hahahahaha. Is this the best you can do? Because I don’t feel a thing. This is like a frail child attempting to push down a strong adult.” Tempest said while raising his hand effortlessly and moving it around.

The pillar of light vanished. It had not had any effect.

“Well, that was boring.”

His voice sounded completely indifferent… as if nothing significant happened.

Nigun and company thought that way, and the smiles on their faces froze.

Nigun, who was stunned by these words, finally managed to recover enough of his senses to shout:

“I know it… I know your true identity! — Demon God! You must be a Demon God.”

There were scant few intelligent beings that Nigun knew of, which could stand on par with the highest tier angels:

The Six Gods which Nigun believed in

The kings of the mighty draconic races — the Dragon Lords.

The legendary monster who could destroy an entire country — Landfall.

And one more — the Demon Gods.

He had heard that the Thirteen Heroes had defeated and sealed away the Demon Gods. Judging by his power, he must have been a Demon God who broke his seal.

At the same time, Nigun had the faint hope that if he was a Demon God, then Dominion Authority might still have a chance to win.

“Again! Use 「Holy Smite」!”

Nigun was hoping that a second attack would have more effect. However, Tempest would not allow him to attack again.

“Yeah… I don’t think so.”

As Tempest spoke, his body appeared to be emanating a strange energy that seemed similar to lightning.

“IS THIS SOME JOKE TO YOU PEOPLE? THIS IS ALL YOU GIVE ME! A WEAK SUMMON WHO COULDN’T EVEN SCRATCH ME! AND YET YOU KEEP USING IT? IT’S TIME I PUT AN END TO THIS FARCE!” Tempest shouted.

He held out his hand and chanted:

“[Call Greater Thunder].”

A spark appeared at his fingertip. Then, it shot out like a huge thunderbolt in the form of a full dragon and pierced the angel’s chest. The angel didn’t even last a second as its body dissipated into nothingness.

It was so underwhelming that it made them stare in dumbfounded silence. It might even be laughable. But they could no longer see it.

As the radiance of Dominion Authority vanished, the light drained from the surroundings.

There was only the sound of the wind blowing across the plains. And then a hoarse cry broke the silence.

“Who… in the world are you…” Nigun asked this impossible being again. “Even demons don’t have this kind of power. I have never heard the name of a swordsman called Tempest before… no, there can’t be someone who could destroy the highest ranked angel in one blow! Someone like that should not even exist...”

Nigun shook his head powerlessly.

“All I know is that you are far beyond a Demon God… this is unbelievable… who exactly are you…”

Tempest shrugged his shoulders.

“I told you already. I my name is Tempest. Well, I guess we’ve spent enough time on friendly chatter. Going on would only be futile. Also, just so we don’t waste each other’s time, there is an anti-teleport effect surrounding me, and my subordinates are waiting in ambush. You have nowhere to run.”

The sun set completely, and darkness swallowed the land.

Nigun knew that this was the end. This was an unassailable reality. Just as his subordinates fell into despair one after the other, cracks appeared in the sky, like the breaking of a pot. They vanished in an instant, and the scenery returned to normal.

“Hey… what was that?”

As confusion washed over Nigun, Tempest answered:

“Good grief… you know, you people should thank me. It would seem someone was using divination or reconnaissance magic to spy on us, but because I was in the spell’s effective range, my anti-scrying offensive barrier activated, and you were not observed. Really, if I had known, I would have linked a higher tier attack spell to it.. Maybe it was your precious Slane Theocracy peeping on us? It’s too bad they didn’t see much since my defense barrier counteracted it. A widened 「Explosion」 might not be enough to teach them a lesson… oh well, things being as they are, playtime is over.”

Those words filled Nigun’s eyes with realization.

The Slane Theocracy must have been spying on him.

“My country was watching me this whole time?” Nigun asked in a confused and suspicious manner.

If the Theocracy was spying on him then Nigun could only guess that it was the work of the 11th Seat of the Black Scripture. She is commonly known as the "Thousand Leagues Astrologer". She is in charge of providing intelligence support to her team and possesses surveillance magic from afar.

“Who cares? But now that they’re gone I might as well reveal who I really am.” Tempest said then he removed his helmet.

The members of the Sunlight Scripture gasped upon seeing his reptilian face.

“Like what you see? And in case you’re wondering, yes I’m a dragon.” Tempest told them while smirking.

“Hold on? Tempest was a Dragon Lord this whole time? That certainly explains his power.” Nigun thought.

Dragon Lords held the mighty power of wild magic. This magic required sacrificing thousands to be used but it could easily wipe out an entire country. However, it only required a small amount of life for a Dragon Lord to use.

“You’re a-a Dragon lord!?” Nigun sputtered in a frightened tone.

The Thousand Leagues Astrologer foretold of the resurrection of the Catastrophe Dragon Lord in the Re-Estize Kingdom. The Sunlight Scripture had to kill Gazef Stronoff to make sure he didn’t interfere with the Black Scripture’s mission to subdue one of the most powerful dragons that ever lived.

“Is it possible that she didn’t predict the date of the resurrection accurately? If that is the case then the being standing in front of them IS the legendary Catastrophe Dragon Lord?” Nigun was becoming more and more worried.

A wave of cold ran through Nigun as he picked up the hidden meaning in everything Tempest said.

He, who had always been the oppressor, was now going to become one of the oppressed.

He was filled with an incomparable fear. The fear that he, who had taken countless lives in the past, was now going to have his own life taken. His subordinates saw his terrified expression and it frightened them as well.

He was on the verge of tears.

He wanted to kneel down and loudly beg for his life, but Tempest did not look like a compassionate man. Thus, Nigun fought back the urge to weep, trying his best to look for a way to survive. But no matter how he thought, he could not think of any way to get help from the outside. Therefore, his only hope was to throw himself on the mercy of Tempest.

“Wait, wait a bit! Sir, no, Lord Tempest! Please wait, we, no, I wish to make a deal with you! I guarantee you will not be disappointed! As long as you spare me, I will give you any amount of money you wish!”

He could see his shocked subordinates out of the corner of his eye, but they were no longer relevant to him. The thing that mattered now was his own life. Everything else was of secondary importance.

Besides, he could find more subordinates, but his own self was irreplaceable.

Ignoring the countless angry voices of his men, Nigun continued:

“It must be difficult to satisfy the tastes of such a great warrior as yourself, but I will definitely prepare enough money to please you! I have a position of some power in my country, so they will definitely pay any price to ransom me! Of course, if you desire anything else, I will do my best to meet your wishes! So, I beg you! Please spare my life! The rest of these men don’t matter!”

Nigun panted as he finished his monologue.

“What, what about it? Lord Tempest!”

“You, MAKE ME SICK!” The words came out of Tempest’s mouth in a growl.

Nigun’s eyes widened and his face turned pale. Then he starts screaming.

His men soon joined him as they started screaming as well.

“WHY SHOULD I SPARE A MISERABLE WORM LIKE YOU AFTER ALL THE CRAP YOU PULLED?!” Tempest screamed as electricity started surging through his body and sparks traveled across his armor.

“YOU KILLED COUNTLES VILLAGERS ALL IN A COWARDLY ACT TO LURE OUT A SINGLE MAN AND YOU DIDN’T EVEN HAVE THE GUTS TO FACE HIM YOURSELF WITHOUT YOUR GOONS BACKING YOU UP.”

Tempest started taking long but slow strides toward Nigun.

“THEN YOU THREATEN THIS VILLAGE THAT ME AND MY COMRADES WORKED HARD TO SAVE FROM YOUR PITIFUL EXCUSE FOR SOLDIERS!”

I began to realize that the footprints I made in the dirt are charred and smoking as I kept walking.

“IF THAT WASN’T BAD ENOUGH. YOU BRAG ABOUT THE STRONGEST OF ANGELS BUT INSTEAD BRING OUT A WEAK MONSTER THAT COULDN’T EVEN SCRATCH ME? YOU OBVIOUSLY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT REAL POWER IS!”

Tempest seemed to be running out of patience.

“YOU ALSO SELL OUT OTHERS TO SAVE YOUR OWN SKIN? WHAT FIGHTER WOULD DO THAT?”

Nigun collapsed to the ground on his back as Tempest towered over him. He raised his greatsword and held it over Nigun. Nigun screamed even louder than before.

“BUT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT REALLY TICKS ME OFF?!”

The Greatsword glowed bright blue as it was charged with electricity.

“WHEN YOU FINALLY FIGURE OUT HOW OUTCLASSED YOU ARE, YOU BAWL, CRY, AND BEG LIKE A FRIGHTENED CHILD! HAVE YOU NO PRIDE AS A WARRIOR? WHERE IS YOUR SELF-RESPECT? PEOPLE AREN’T OBJECTS THAT YOU CAN TOSS ASIDE WHEN IT’S CONVENIENT FOR YOU! COWARDS LIKE YOU… DESERVE TO DIE!!”

Tempest moves to swing his sword down and bisect Nigun but then he stops as he receives a [Message].

[Message] “Tempest wait!” Ainz said in an urgent tone.

Tempest halted his attack and responded.

[Message] “WHAT IS IT AINZ? CAN’T YOU SEE I’M GOING TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH?!” Tempest said angrily, he was still incredibly pissed off.

[Message] “Yes, I saw. I’ve been observing your battle this entire time and I stopped you because you’re acting hasty.” Ainz explained in a calm voice.

Tempest shook his head in disapproval.

[Message] “What do you mean?”

[Message] “There’s still so much we don’t know about this world. These men could hold valuable information, especially about the Slane Theocracy. If the Slane Theocracy sent these men to destroy villages, then wouldn’t it be more productive to interrogate them so we could use our new knowledge to prevent something like this from happening in the future and deal a crippling blow to the Slane Theocracy?” Ainz used logic in his argument in an attempt to calm Tempest.

It did the trick as the electricity surging through his armor dissipated and Jörmungandr returned to normal.

[Message] “What did you have in mind?” Tempest wondered after finally calming down.

[Message] “We take them back to Nazarick so Neuronist Painkill and Heretic can interrogate them. A little torture should loosen their tongues.” Ainz told him in a cold voice.

Nigun was watching Tempest as he just stood there with his pressed against his forehead.

Nigun was starting to feel hopeful that Tempest changed his mind since he refrained from killing him.

Tempest smirked and looked at Nigun who gulped from being under his gaze.

“Good news, I’m not going to kill you.”

Nigun relaxed as he heard Tempest say these words. But what he said next filled Nigun with dread.

“I’ll just have you all tortured for days on end.” Tempest said in chipper tone as he put his helmet back on.

Nigun screamed.

…

Scene Change: Tempest’s POV:

As me, Ainz, Albedo, and Lucifer walked along the night-veiled plains, Ainz raised his head. What greeted us was the beautiful sight of stars in the sky.

Ainz sighed at the scenery for the second time, and then we headed back to the village.

I had gone overboard.

I almost got rid of a valuable resource just because I couldn’t control my temper.

“I’m… sorry, Momo.” I mumbled out in shame. “I don’t know what came over me back there.”

Ainz took off his mask and looked at me with his glowing red eyes.

“Tempest, I have never seen you get angry like that, ever. What happened to you?”

“I honestly don’t know.” I muttered. “Really, I don’t. I’ve gotten angry plenty of times but never like that. I was getting steadily angrier as the fight dragged on, then I just exploded.”

There was a moment of silence as I gathered my thoughts.

“I-I think what really rattled me was the fact he turned on his own men without a second thought. That kind of selfish act just pissed me off…” I trailed off.

“Really? That is interesting.” Ainz muttered.

“What is?” I asked Ainz as we all stopped walking.

“You know how lately, my emotions of been… getting suppressed?” Ainz started to explain.

“Yes. You’re an undead now and I remember you told me some time ago. Why are you bringing this up now?” I asked.

“When ever I begin to feel angry, or excited, or upset. That feeling is instantly squashed and I calm down.”

I blinked in astonishment, this was a new side of my friend that I was getting to see.

“And it got me thinking about your emotions Tempest.”

“Oh boy. This can’t be good.” I realized.

“I believe,” Ainz carried on, “That while my emotions are suppressed, you have the opposite problem. Your emotions are amplified, leaving you forced to feel emotions stronger than you’re used to. For instance, I’m not sure if you were aware of it or not but when you urged me to save the village I could feel how annoyed you were for a second.”

“Was it that obvious?” I asked embarrassed.

Ainz nodded while I just sighed, “Damn. I was trying to be subtle.”

I looked at the ground beneath me as I contemplated Ainz words.

I remembered that I was trying to stay calm while fighting those pricks then that blonde moron opened his mouth and said…

Oh.

“Maybe your right. I never felt anything that intense before, even when I won the World Tournament back in YGGDRASIL.”

For a minute, we all just stood there in complete silence. A single thought was going through my mind.

I miss my family.

“…Tempest.” Ainz snapped me out of my thoughts, “I planned on asking you this later, but I guess now is the time to get it out of the way. What do you think about what we did today?”

“Well,” I formulated my response, “I guess we did good anything barring my little ‘episode’ at the end. We rescued a village, saved lives, and confirmed that we’re stronger than most of the inhabitants. But if your asking me about the people we had to kill then, well…”

I thought to the sisters we found at the village.

“I don’t feel bad for them since they brought it on themselves for attacking innocents. Now, how do you feel about the massacre?”

“To be honest I had my doubts about this whole thing but in the end it paid off. We have connections to both Carne Village and the Re-Estize Kingdom through the Warrior Captain. We learned this world has Tier Magic from YGGDRASIL, but the inhabitants are weak in using it and this experience proved educational. As for killing those soldiers… I feel about as much as you do, more or less.”

I paused at that response then said:

“This was a good day for us Ainz. We shouldn’t let hesitation or dissatisfaction keep us down. This would could have many hurdles to throw our way.”

“Agreed.” Ainz said then we kept walking.

While Ainz could not see Albedo’s expression, I could as it appeared as, Damn, Lord Ainz was so cool, kufufufu~ under her closed helmet. At least, that’s what I assumed since we could not tell what she was thinking, we went over the day’s proceedings once more.

“Still, Lord Tempest, why did you save Gazef by taking his place?”

“Why indeed Albedo?” I could not articulate his feelings at that time, so he tried to approximate them for her:

“This was a problem we caused, so shouldn’t we try and settle it ourselves?” I tried to explain to Albedo.

“But why did Lord Ainz give him that important item?”

Item? What item?

“I was laying the foundation for future plans. Letting him hold it would be a good thing for me.”

Ainz then whispered to me.

“Actually, I had given Gazef a cash item from YGGDRASIL, but I had a great many of them. Although I can’t replenish my stock of them, giving one away was not a great loss. In addition, I was actually happy to have less of those items. That was because they’re consolation prizes from the 500-yen gacha draws, which remind me of how profligate I had been with my spending and my poor lifestyle then. In addition, while I had spent countless 500-yen coins on finally getting the ultra-rare item that was the top prize, our former comrade Yamaiko had gotten it on the first try. The impact of that incident cast an indelible shadow in my heart.”

I nodded my head in understanding.

“This is what happens when you rely on luck.” I grumbled.

I would also want to throw anyway any consolation prizes, but I’m too possessive to do that.

“Well, it doesn’t matter who ends up with that item in the end, or if it ends up being used or not. It’s no loss to me.” Ainz stated.

“...Would it not have been best to let me take care of things? There was no need for the Supreme Beings to personally aid those inferior lifeforms… surrounding them was hardly a difficult task, which is why I submit that Lord Tempest did not need to personally take the field.”

Lucifer frowned at Albedo’s words, I’m guessing she didn’t take too kindly to her ‘inferior lifeforms’ insult.

“Is that so…” I said.

Without a device to measure power levels, that was all I could say in response.

In YGGDRASIL, one could determine the strength of an enemy by the color of their names. Beyond that, one could only rely on information from one’s friends and walkthrough sites.

I could not help but feel nostalgic.

“If only I had learned some divination-type spells —" I thought, with a hint of regret. Of course, I did not know if those spells could be used here. However, if I could, then I would not have to be as nervous as I was now.

Still, there was no point worrying about what I did not have. I decided to think of something else as Ainz said:

“...I know your strength, Albedo, and I trust your devotion. However, I would like you to discard such shallow thinking and remember that an enemy who is stronger than us could appear at any time. This is especially true given that we do not quite understand this world… so I hoped Gazef could aid us by providing an opponent.”

“I see… so you used him as a pawn to feel out the enemy’s strength. It is quite fitting to use inferior lifeforms like humans in that way Supreme Ones.”

Although the closed helm revealed none of her emotions, her freshly-flowered joy was obvious in her voice.

Lucifer looked displeased by what Albedo said but then she perked up and said, “Well if anything I like that the Supreme Beings were merciful enough to save those people.”

I had once been a human being, and now I was a Dragonoid. From just now, I had sensed that Albedo hated humans very much. However, while I didn’t approve it did not upset me. Rather, I felt that such thoughts were quite suitable for the inhuman Guardian Overseer of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick since she had a very high negative karma value. Lucifer in contrast, had a very high positive karma value, so shouldn’t have much reason to hate humans.

“...Indeed. However, that is not all. Since we saved him at the brink of death, he will be even more grateful to us. In addition, since the enemy was a special forces unit, the country’s higher-ups will not investigate the matter too openly. That was why Tempest stepped in.” Ainz lied.

“What are you up to Bone Man?” I wondered mentally.

“Ah… as expected of Lord Ainz... so that was why the Supreme Beings took the commander and the others alive. Marvelously done!”

“The wisdom of the masters deserves to be admired.” Lucifer cheered.

I could not help but feel proud when I heard Albedo’s and Lucifer’s praise. After all, we managed to put together a sensible, coherent plan in a short period of time; perhaps this was Ainz’s leadership talent at work. Just then, Albedo’s cheerful voice entered my self-satisfied ears:

“...Still, was it necessary to take the angels’ swords with your precious body, Lord Tempest?”

“Is that how it looked to you? When we first came to Carne Village, we used the knights on the outskirts to verify that our High Tier Physical Nullification was still working normally.” I told Albedo

“Indeed, you are correct. I verified it with my own eyes as well. However, I did not wish my eyes to helplessly watch the swords of those despicable angels piercing your body, Lord Tempest.” Lucifer sad in a sad tone that made her look even more adorable.

“I see. I did not take your feelings into consideration. You have my—”

“—And even if I knew you would emerge unscathed, which servant would want to see the creator she loves being stabbed by swords?” Lucifer said in a concerned voice.

“...Ah, yes.” I replied.

“Lucifer,” Ainz said as we all looked at him, “If Tempest had been in any real danger, I would have stepped in and assisted him. It is something I would gladly do for one I considered my comrade.”

Lucifer looked pleased at this, “Thank you Lord Ainz.”

I was grateful to Ainz for coming to my rescue since I did not know how to answer, so with the issue resolved, we continued to the village. Albedo and Lucifer did not seem to want to press the matter any further and followed quietly.

Once they reached the village, the villagers, led by the Death Knight and Lightning Djinn, came out to meet them.

They lavished praise and thanks onto them, and I saw Gazef among the villagers.

I stopped just a few feet from them, gave them a quick glance before I did something surprising, I kneeled before them.

“Tempest…” Momo mumbled.

“Master?” Lucifer asked but I already started talking.

“Warrior Captain, I would like to apologize to you as well as everyone else for my selfish actions. I was so eager to test my strength that I ignored the danger and went in without a strategy or even considering the opinions of others.” No one said anything after my apology, since they knew I wasn’t finished.

“Please, Sir Stronoff, I beg for your forgiveness, as a fellow warrior. They were your opponents and I insulted your warrior’s pride by robbing you of a glorious battle.” Ainz, Albedo, and Lucifer were shocked, this outburst of emotion seemed too real to be fake.

“Please, Lord Tempest. You have no reason to lower yourself before me.” Gazef said, kneeling and placing his hand on my shoulder.

“This village was put in danger because of me. When it comes to pride, I was the one who was ready to step over your pride. Had Master Gown not stopped me, I would have interfered, in the end it appears I would have only gotten in your way.”

“Thank you. Sir Stronoff.” I turned to face Ainz.

“Ainz, again I’m sorry for my behavior. I was so anxious for a fight that I ran straight into a situation without thinking…” Ainz interrupted me by calmly beginning to speak.

“We are allies Tempest. There is no need for apologies. We all have much to learn on this journey, occasionally it will require action to accomplish results without losses, you have showed that much. Now please rise, I can’t go anywhere without my champion.” He said with a laugh.

“Fine.” I sighed, getting back to my feet.

Gazef spoke up again.

“...Master Gown, Master Tempest I do not know what plans you both have, but would you be willing to travel with us? We will be staying in this village for a while.”

“Is that so? Well, I was planning to move on, though we have not decided our destination yet.” Ainz informed him.

“It’s already late to travel now, perhaps…” Gazef pointed out but then he remembered who he was speaking to and corrected himself.

“Apologies, Master Gown. These concerns are unnecessary for one as powerful as yourself. If any of you drop by the imperial capital, feel free to pay me a visit, my doors will always be open for you and Lord Tempest. Please visit should you ever have the time, I would be honored to have a sparring match with you Lord Tempest. Other than that, I will be forever grateful for you providing me a full set of equipment from the knights attacking the village.” Me and Ainz nodded at his words.

“Is that so… then, we will have to impose on you when the time comes.” Ainz replied with a chuckle.

“I look forward to witnessing your skill with a sword, Sir Gazef.” I said while wearing a cocky grin underneath my helmet.

Gazef continued speaking.

“You both saved me… speaking of which, where did those fellows go?”

Since Gazef had changed his tone somewhat, I decided to nonchalantly inspect him.

A fire burned within his eyes.

I turned away, as though he had seen something brilliant. My eyes reflexively went to the ring Gazef wore on his left ring finger.

So, he was married. It’s probably good that his wife won’t need to shed tears for him. As I thought about that, Ainz decided to carefully put on an act:

“Oh, we chased them off. We couldn’t take care of all of them, as I thought.”

That was a lie, of course. They had all been shipped back to the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. Gazef narrowed his eyes a little, but nobody spoke. The air between us grew tense.

In the end, Gazef broke the silence:

We nodded and decided that we had taken care of everything we needed to do in this village. There had been more things to do here than I had expected, and we had spent more time here than I had expected.

“Let’s go home, Tempest, Albedo, Lucifer. It wouldn’t fair to the Floor Guardians to make them worry by being late” Ainz said in a voice low enough that only me, Lucifer and Albedo could hear. Lucifer and Albedo immediately turned around joyfully in response — although Albedo was still wearing her full plate armor.

“Got it Bone Daddy.” I said sarcastically as Ainz sighed.

We stepped through the [Gate] back to Nazarick.

Home sweet home.

…

Scene Change: Nazarick: The Next Morning:

After waking up I headed to Ainz’s suite. Ainz’s room was filled with exquisite furniture, while the floor was laid with a bright red carpet. This vast room was usually draped in a thin veil of silence, and today it was even more quiet than normal. The maid who normally attended him here was nowhere to be seen. The only people here were me, Ainz, Albedo, Lighting Djinn in one corner, and Ainz’s sword-bearing Death Knight in another corner.

Albedo spoke in a soft, syrupy sweet voice, as though trying to preserve the silence of the room:

“I have a report to deliver. The commander of the Slane Theocracy’s Sunlight Scripture who we captured has been incarcerated in the Frozen Prison. We will extract information from him with the help of Heretic and the Special Intelligence-Gathering Officer.”

“If it’s Neuronist, there shouldn’t be any problems. However, I want to conduct experiments on the bodies… do you know anything about this?” Ainz asked.

“Understood. In addition, we are currently looking through the arms and armor recovered from the men dressed as knights. They do not bear any major enchantments and will be sent to the Treasury after the investigations are concluded.”

“...Well, that’s the proper way to dispose of them.”

“I guess.” I muttered.

“Finally, I plan to have two Shadow Demons and two of Sir Heretic’s Eight-Edge Assassins keep an eye on the village. Then, what should we do about Gazef Stronoff?” Albedo asked us.

“Leave the Warrior Captain in peace for now. It is more important that we build a good relationship with that village. We might need their help in future, so avoid doing anything to antagonize them.” I ordered Albedo as Ainz agreed by nodding.

“Understood. I will take care of it. Thus, ends the report.”

Ainz turned to look at Albedo as he said, “Well done.” The look on her face was slightly different from her usual gentle smile. She seemed particularly happy today.

The reason was the sparkling [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown] upon her left ring finger, which she caressed lovingly.

“-Sheesh! She’s acting like their already married.” I find this a little humorous yet disturbing at the same time.

Although she could wear the ring anywhere she wanted, it was not hard to tell why she was wearing the ring on that finger.

If that was how Albedo truly felt, then as a man, Ainz should be overjoyed. I wouldn’t blame since any man would love to have the affections of an attractive woman. However, since it was the result of our tampering, I know it makes him feel guilty instead.

“Albedo… the love you feel for me is the result of my meddling. They are certainly not your original feelings. Therefore…”

Where was he going with this? Was it possible to changer her memories with magic?

Just then, Albedo looked at Ainz and smiled.

“Before you changed me, what kind of person was I, Lord Ainz?”

“A slut.” I wanted to say out loud but choose not to interfere.

I could not say that, of course, but I did not know how to tell her. Ainz seemed to struggle with answering her. Then, Albedo spoke again.

“Then, I am quite happy with the way I am now, so there is no need for you to feel upset, Lord Ainz. Wouldn’t you agree Lord Tempest?” She said, turning to me.

I was shocked that I was getting dragged into this, but I answered anyway.

“If you say so…” I mumbled.

“But…” Ainz began to say but Albedo cut him off.

“But...? But what, may I ask lord?”

Ainz did not answer, I was sensing something unusual coming from Albedo. She continued addressing the silent Ainz:

“There is only one thing that matters.”

As we waited for Albedo to continue, she said:

“Does it trouble you?”

I was stunned. Ainz dumbly opened his mouth, taking note of Albedo’s smiling face. Her words branded themselves deeply into my brain. Ainz seemed to know what she was trying to say, and hastily replied:

“No, no, how could it inconvenience me...”

I snorted.

Of course, he wouldn’t be unhappy with receiving the love of a beautiful woman like Albedo. At least, for the time being.

“Then, is there a problem with it?”

“...Eh—”

“This is wrong.” I thought that, but I could not find any reason to refute her.

“Then, it should be fine, right?” Albedo said again. I could sense something mysterious and inscrutable in those words, and Ainz brought up a question in a final, desperate attempt to struggle free:

“I messed with Tabula-san’s character settings. Don’t you wish to go back to your old self?”

“I believe Lord Tabula would approve, with all the joy of giving his daughter away for marriage.”

“...Is, is that so?” Ainz mumbled.

“Was he really like that? It would be kinda funny if he was.” Just as I was thinking about this, the sound of crashing metal rang out.

We turned to look at the source of the sound and saw a longsword on the ground. The Death Knight who should have been holding that sword was nowhere to be seen. Ainz had summoned the missing Death Knight not long ago. Unlike myself who had retained the Lightning Djinn I had summoned back at Carne Village by using the corpse of a slain knight.

“...When I summon them normally, they disappear after a while… given the way the sword from this world is on the ground, it would seem that equipment alone was not enough to bind them to this world, so it was left behind. If that is the case, does that Death Knight and Lightning Djinn remain here because we used corpses to summon it? It would appear that I can strengthen Nazarick if I had more corpses.”

“Then, shall we collect a large number of corpses for the Supreme Ones?”

“...Try to avoid digging up that village’s graveyard.”

“There’s no need to disrespect the dead.” I added my input.

“Understood. However, we must then consider a way to procure fresh corpses. Now that the Death Knight has disappeared, everyone should have assembled by now. Please Supreme Ones proceed to the throne room with Sebas and the Pleiades. I will go ahead first.”

“Figures they’d like to play babysitter.” I mentally rolled my eyes.

“I see. All right, Albedo. We’ll see you later.” Ainz told her.

“Goodbye for now.” I said while waving.

…

Scene Change: Albedo’s POV:

As Albedo quietly left Ainz’s room, she saw Sebas and the Pleiades approaching along the corridor.

“Sebas, Pleiades you’ve come just in time.”

“Albedo-sama. Is Lord Momonga and Lord Tempest in Lord Momonga’s room?”

“Yes, they’re.”

“That is good to here Lady Albedo.” Yuri Alpha said as the Pleiades bowed.

Albedo could not help but feel superior as she heard Sebas still referring to Ainz as Momonga. As he saw the look on her face, Sebas raised an eyebrow.

“You seem to be in a good mood. Did something good happen?”

“Yes.”

Albedo’s joy was not just because of the name, but because she recalled her conversation with Ainz. She spoke of marrying Ainz, and he did not reject or deny the suggestion. In other words,...

Albedo’s smile shifted, going from graceful and elegant to lewd and wicked in an instant. it was a smile she would never show to Ainz. Lupusregina Beta noticed her grin and smiled mischievously at it while Solution Epsilon frowned a little because she supported Shalltear’s affections for Lord Ainz.

“Kufufufu, I’ve done it. No, I will definitely do it. I will be the one seated beside Lord Ainz. That flat chested bitch Shalltear will be nothing more than my footrest.”

“Congratulations Lady Albedo.” Lupusregina couldn’t help but say because she wanted Albedo to marry the ruler of Nazarick.

“It is good to hear that my lady.” Narberal said with a small smile as she was also a supporter of Albedo, like Lupusregina.

Albedo clenched her fist, unable to resist the words boiling up in her heart. These were not words of a Guardian Overseer, but a woman.

“Ah, my succubus blood is boiling…”

Sebas and the Pleiades silently watched Albedo as she acted up.

…

Scene Change: Tempest’s POV:

Me and Ainz traveled with Sebas and the Pleiades to the Throne Room.

Yuri Alpha decided to approach me.

“Lord Tempest, may I speak with you?”

“Oh, Yuri. Sure, you can. But I have a question first. Did you and the other Pleiades tell the others about my human form?”

“Yes, my lord. I have informed Floor Guardian Demiurge, Overseer Albedo, and Lord Sebas. However, I am not sure of the others. My apologies, Lord Tempest.”

“I informed Lord Cocytus and Sir Toro, Lord Tempest.” Solution informed us in a sultry tone.

“I told Sir Heretic and Lady Shadows my lord.” CZ said in a low voice.

“And I told sister Aureole, Victim, and Lady Bane about it master~su.” Lupusregina said with a big, goofy grin on her face.

“It’s alright you guys. I’ll tell the other Floor Guardians about my human form myself. So, there’s no need to worry.”

“Understood, Lord Tempest. But if I may have a moment of your time? It’s about what Narberal and Entoma did when they first saw your human form.”

I looked at Narberal and Entoma who both seemed nervous and stared at the floor in shame.

“Yuri, if you’re worried that they offended me-”

“Apologies for interrupting you Lord Tempest but it’s not that. I know you were not offended at what they did, and I am grateful to you for that. It’s just that Narberal and Entoma won’t forgive themselves until they’ve received proper punishment and I am worried about them in such a state.”

Okay, that was unexpected. But how do I “properly punish them”? It’s not like I want to hurt them or even punish them since they were just doing their duty.

“I think I understand. While I don’t feel it is necessary to punish them for simply performing their jobs, I will trust your judgment. What do you believe would be a proper punishment?

“Thank you for your understanding Lord Tempest. If you do not mind, I recommend you take Entoma as your personal maid for a month.”

“… Yuri, I’m not sure if you remembered but Entoma threatened to eat my arm.”

Entoma suddenly sputtered, “I’m sorry for what I said to you that morning Lord Tempest!” She bowed.

“Entoma. I already forgive you and Narberal.”

“Thank you my lord.” They both said while bowing.

“Pl-please forgive me, Lord Tempest, I should’ve explained. If you were to take Entoma as your personal maid for a month rather than Narberal, she would feel like she is being punished for what she said to you while Entoma would be punished by how embarrassed she’ll be when serving you considering what she said to you my lord.”

Well, I guess that made sense. Entoma seemed to have a hard time looking me in the eye after what she said to me. That month will be torture for her, but I won’t do anything to her, so she’ll be okay.

“Very well. I will trust judgment on this matter. Entoma! Narberal! Do you both understand?”

“Yes, Lord Tempest!” They both shouted, albeit Narberal looked a little red-faced while Entoma just stared at the ground.

“Thank you, Lord Tempest.”

“It’s fine.”

And suddenly we arrived at our destination.

The Throne Room.

Sebas and the Pleiades trailed behind me and Ainz as we entered the room, fashionably late.

There were many people kneeling here, to show their loyalty.

Nobody in this place moved a muscle, and it was so quiet that even the sound of their breathing could be heard. Apart from that, there was only the sound of mine, Ainz’s, Sebas’, and the Pleiades footsteps, as well as the tapping of the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown on the ground.

Ainz ascended the stairs and sat on the throne while I stood to his right. Sebas remained at the foot of the throne, kneeling behind Albedo while the Pleiades went to take their place among the kneeling NPCs.

Ainz and I silently surveyed the throne room from where we were.

Almost all of the guild’s NPCs were gathered below us. They looked quite majestic when I watched them from on high, like a Night Parade of monsters. I could not help but silently praise our guild members for their creativity in making so many different and interesting characters. As I looked again, there were several NPCs who were not present. However, that could not be helped. After all, they could not easily move the ultra-large golem Gargantua and Victim — who oversaw the eighth Floor — from their positions.

However, it was not just NPCs who were gathered here. Although they were not intended to replace the abovementioned two people, this great hall also contained many high-leveled vassals who had been hand-picked by the other Floor Guardians such as the seven Evil Lords who were kneeling behind Demiurge.

There were several other creatures here as well:  
-A Weeping Widow, an undead with the appearance of a beautiful woman wearing a kimono. They usually serve as wardens in the Frozen Prison on the 5th floor.

-A Hellion, a demon that appeared as a little human girl wearing a pink dress. Demiurge kept them as guards on the 7th floor.

-A Forest Sprite that looked like a woman wearing a dress made of leaves. She was one of Mare’s subordinates from the 6th floor.

-A Vampire Mistress, an elite vampire summon dressed as an attractive woman wearing a black ball gown. They serve as guards on the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors.

That said — the Throne Room did not feel crowded at all, given its massive size. Although I could understand why my underlings would not want to let their servants into the heart of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick — the Throne Room — I felt that such severity was not needed.

“Ah, forget it, not like it’s important anyway.” After deciding to discuss those matters later.

I decided now would be a good time to try a killer prank.

I felt a familiar ripple inside me and changed into my child-like human form. I was still wearing the white mage robe.

Ainz turned to me quickly and whispered:

“What are you doing?” He said urgently.

“I want to know how they’ll react.” I whispered back.

“Are you a glutton for punishment? Some of them might attack you!”

“Not if you and the others stop them! Everything will be fine Momo.” I said in a playful manner.

“Fine, it’s your funeral.” He grumbled.

With that done, we focused on the NPCs again.

“Raise your heads.” Momonga told them.

As the NPCs raised their heads they took notice of my human form.

Albedo, Demiurge, Cocytus, Heretic, Toro, Lucifer, and Belle had the weakest reaction. Apparently they were told about my new form, then again Cocytus and Heretic couldn’t show much emotion since their faces don’t move.

Aura, Mare, and Shalltear however… all had gaping mouths like bass fish as if they were having a hard time believing what they were seeing, a human standing next to the ruler of Nazarick.

“Why you-” Shalltear began shouting before Albedo and Belle swiftly grabbed her shoulders.

“Albedo, Belle, what do you two think you’re doing?! There i-”

“There’s no need for any hastiness Lady Shalltear.” Belle told her in a neutral tone but there was a hint of irritation in it.

“Indeed. Calm down, Shalltear. I know you’re confused, but that is not a human, isn’t that correct Lord Tempest?” Albedo told Shalltear and looked at me.

“Quite true, Albedo,” I said with a huge shit-eating grin on my face and felt a gentle ripple through my body as I turned back into my Dragonoid form, “Sorry for tricking you all but the moment seemed too good to resist.”

Aura, Mare, and Shalltear just stared at me while looking like gaping fish. Albedo, Demiurge, Belle, and Toro smiled at me and Cocytus and Lucifer started laughing. Heretic just kept staring.

“That was a good one master! I would’ve done the same in your position, but is that the only reason you called us here?” Lucifer asked while tilting her head.

“No Lucifer, we have an important announcement to make.”

The NPCs got on their knees and bowed their heads to us in respect once again.

Ainz was going to address our subordinates but then I interrupted him.

“Excuse me Ainz. I have something I need to say.”

“What is it Tempest? Can’t it wait?” Ainz asked as he turned to me.

The NPCs were now silent, they were curious to find out where Lord Tempest was going with this.

“No, it can’t. This is an issue I want to resolve right now. It’ll be quick.”

“Fine.” Ainz muttered.

I walked in front of the NPCs, turned to face Ainz, and kneeled.

“I want to be your champion.” I blurted out.

“What?” Ainz asked.

“I have been… unclear about my role here in Nazarick. I thought as your comrade it was only appropriate that I become your champion.”

“I see. But what does a ‘Champion’ do exactly?” Ainz said.

“Basically, I would be your bodyguard. I would protect you against any threats and I’ll be your escort when you go outside. Only you would be my superior, I’d only take orders from you and my position of authority would be higher than Albedo’s. I’d be your second-in-command. Assuming Albedo doesn’t have a problem with it.” I explained then turned to face Albedo.

Albedo went into shock for a second but relaxed and answered, “I have no objections to your proposition Lord Tempest. It is only natural for a Supreme Being to be the protector of the ruler of Nazarick.”

I’m sure she won’t mind since she’d still be taking orders from Momonga and I have no interest in keeping them apart.

“Very well,” Ainz shouted, “Listen up all of you, from now on Tempest is my Champion and your superior, obey all his orders as you would obey all of mine.”

“Yes, Lord Ainz.” All the NPCs said in unison.

“Rise Tempest, as of now you’re the official Champion of Nazarick.”

I stood up and went stand at Ainz’s right side again.

“Thanks, Momo.” I said playfully.

“Now that we’ve taken care of that little bit of business, we would like to apologize for taking independent action.”

Personally, I was feeling singularly unapologetic as Ainz said those words. It felt nice to leave the tomb. It was mere pleasantry, yet the apology was extremely important. Since gathering them all was our idea, then we needed to let our subordinates know that we trusted them implicitly.

“Albedo will tell you why we have gathered you all here afterwards. However, there is a matter which is more important than that. I must tell the gathered members of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick something — 「Greater Break Item」.”

Ainz cast a spell which could destroy a magic item of a certain level. A large flag fell from one of the poles attached to the ceiling.

The sigil on the flag represented “Momonga”.

“I have changed my name. From now on, my name is…”

Ainz pointed to a certain place, and everyone’s eyes followed his finger.

“My name is Ainz Ooal Gown. You may address me as Ainz.”

Momonga was pointing to the flag which hung behind the throne, imprinted with the icon of Ainz Ooal Gown. Momonga raised his staff and forcefully slammed its tip into the ground, to get everybody’s attention.

“If anyone objects to this, rise now and let your views be heard!”

“It was his flag. He could do whatever he wanted with it. I don’t care.” I thought.

Nobody spoke out in opposition. Albedo was all smiles as she replied:

“We have all heard your glorious name. All hail the Supreme Beings! Oh, Supreme Ones, Lord Ainz Ooal Gown and Lord Tempest, every member of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick pledges their undying loyalty to the Supreme Beings.”

Shortly after, the Floor Guardians shouted as one:

“All glory to Ainz Ooal Gown! Supreme Lord and leader of us all, Ainz Ooal Gown-sama! We shall give ourselves completely to you!”

“Long live Ainz Ooal Gown! Oh, King of fearsome power, Lord Ainz Ooal Gown! All shall know of your greatness!”

“All hail Ainz Ooal Gown!” I said while giving a mock salute.

The shouts and praise of the NPCs and servants thundered through the Throne Room.

As Ainz basked in the praise of our subordinates, I thought:

—My friends, what do you think of Ainz using this great name? Are you happy? Are you displeased? If you have any objections, please let us know, tell me, “this is not a name you can take for yourself.” I’m sure Momo would gladly return to his old name of Momonga.

“Then—”

Ainz looked out at everyone.

“—Next, I shall announce our new direction. This is an absolute order.”

Ainz paused here and looked around. The subordinates before us had serious, stern looks on their faces.

“Make Ainz Ooal Gown an eternal legend.”

He gripped the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown tightly and rapped it on the ground. Then, as if responding to Ainz, the crystals socketed on the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown radiated light in all the colors of the rainbow, and the air around him trembled.

“There may be many heroes, but we will surpass each and every one of them. We will let everybody in this world know that Ainz Ooal Gown are the true heroes! If there are people stronger than us, we will deal with them in ways other than force. If we encounter a magician with many subordinates, we will achieve our goal some other way. This is merely the preparatory phase in order to let everyone know that Ainz Ooal Gown is the greatest. Let us fight together for this glorious future!”

We would spread this name throughout the world. The former members of Ainz Ooal Gown may have left YGGDRASIL, but there was a chance they might be in this world, like Ainz and I.

Therefore, we had to make Ainz Ooal Gown a legend, so everyone would know of it.

Be it in the air, land, or sea, we would spread this name to all the sapient beings in this world.

We would carry this name to the ears of our comrades who might be in this world.

Ainz’s fearsome presence was startling, and his thunderous voice could be heard anywhere in the Throne Room.

Their voices united as one, everyone in the Throne Room lowered their heads. The sound they made might have been taken for a prayer.

…

Scene Change: NPCs POV:

The throne was vacant after its master left, but the air in the Throne Room still boiled with excitement.

Hearing their Supreme Overlord’s orders to work as one filled everybody with incomparable motivation, especially those who had been given specific orders.

“Everyone, raise your heads.”

After hearing Albedo’s calm and steady voice, the people whose heads were still lowered lifted their heads in unison.

“Everyone, please act as Lord Ainz and Lord Tempest orders. After that, I have something to announce.”

Albedo’s eyes were fixed on the flag of Ainz Ooal Gown that hung behind the throne. The NPCs and servants behind her were also looking at it.

“Demiurge, tell everyone what Lord Ainz said to you.”

“Understood.”

Demiurge was kneeling with everyone else. However, his voice could clearly be heard by everyone present.

“Lord Ainz looked to the night sky and told me, ‘Perhaps the reason that we have come here is to claim this chest of jewels which belongs to nobody.’ After that, he said, ‘No, this is not something we can claim for ourselves. Perhaps these jewels are meant to adorn the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick; myself, and my friends from Ainz Ooal Gown.’ The chest of jewels here refers to the world. This is where Lord Ainz’s true ambitions lie.”

Demiurge smiled, but it was filled with something other than kindness.

“Finally, Lord Ainz said, ‘However, conquering this world might be quite interesting.’ In short, that means…”

The looks in everyone’s eyes turned razor-sharp. It represented their iron will and determination.

Albedo rose slowly, to look on everyone’s faces.

Everyone looked at Albedo, as if in response. At the same time, they looked at the flag of Ainz Ooal Gown behind her.

“Understanding Lord Ainz’s true intentions and preparing for them is the proof of our loyalty and the mark of excellent subordinates. Everyone must keep in mind that the final objective of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick is to deliver this chest of jewels — the world — to Lord Ainz and Lord Tempest.”

Albedo was all smiles, and she turned that smile to the flag behind her.

“Lord Ainz, we will definitely give this world to you and Lord Tempest.”

Then, countless voices spoke as one, their words echoing across the Throne Room.

“We will render everything in this world unto its rightful ruler, Lord Ainz.”

As the NPCs finished whispering about what Albedo said, they decided to discuss another matter.

“D-did you all see Lord Tempest’s human form?” Mare asked in a gentle voice.

At the mention of Lord Tempest’s human form, Shalltear froze and refused to look any of the NPCs in the eye.

“Yeah, I saw it all alright. It was… pretty small actually. I didn’t even know he could change forms.” Aura responded to her brother’s question.

“Agreed, and speaking of Lord Tempest,” Albedo said and turned to the trembling, blushing undead, “Shalltear, I’m sure I don’t need to inform how fortunate you are that you didn’t do something you would’ve regretted.”

“Especially since it would’ve ended badly for you.” Belle said in a cold voice, she didn’t appreciate anyone threatening her master.

“What?” Shalltear choked once again before hiding her blushing face by using her hands, “What have I done!? I almost attacked Lord Tempest!”

“Shalltear, if you want to atone for your actions, maybe you should begin by preparing your Floor? It might please Lord Tempest if he sees you so devoted to protecting Nazarick. I’m sure Belle would be eager to aid you.” Albedo suggested innocently.

Belle and Heretic could immediately tell what Albedo was up to. She was helping Shalltear win their creator’s affections so she wouldn’t focus on Lord Ainz. Albedo was eliminating her rival for their Lord’s heart.

Shalltear took her hands off her face and looked at Albedo, she knew the Overseer was up to something because it was strange that she would offer to help but she was so filled with shame and embarrassment at almost attacking Lord Tempest that she didn’t care and was willing to do anything to make it up to him.

“You’re correct Albedo. I need to begin immediately, come along Belle,” Shalltear said then opened a [Gate] but not before whispering to herself, “Maybe Lord Tempest will still punish me? Oh, I’m getting wet…”

“Charming.” Belle muttered sarcastically as she stepped through the [Gate] after Shalltear.

“Geez, what a pervert.” Aura said after Belle and Shalltear left then she turned to Albedo, “Hey Albedo I’m surprised at you. I thought you and Shalltear didn’t like each other since you’re both competing to be the first wife of Lord Ainz.”

“Oh, we are Aura.” Albedo informed her happily, “Although, if Shalltear focuses on Lord Tempest, then the less that slutty lamprey will focus on Lord Ainz and I’ll have a better chance of winning his eternal love.”

“Sure… maybe.” Aura said dubiously then said, “Well, I’m leaving. I’ve got work to do.” Aura walked back to her floor.

“Well said Aura, we all should all start making preparations but before all that, Cocytus, Toro, Lucifer, and Heretic?” Demiurge asked the other NPCs.

“Yes?” Cocytus asked.

“What is it Demiurge?” Lucifer asked.

“May I be of assistance.” Heretic replied in a low voice.

“Do you require something?” Toro said.

“Were all of you informed about Lord Tempest’s human form? I’m asking because none of you seemed surprised by it.”

All of them except for Heretic chuckled.

“Yes. Demiurge. Solution. Epsilon. Told. Me. But. Lord. Tempest. Has. The. Aura. Of. A. True. Warrior. Much. Like. Myself. I. Could. Tell. It. Was. Him. Just. By. The. Way. He. Stood. On. Guard. Next. To. Lord. Ainz.” Cocytus informed the Arch-Devil.

“She told me as well. But it would be hard for me not to be able to sense my creator is nearby.” Toro elaborated.

“Shizu was the one that said to me that master had a human form. But Master is always by Lord Ainz’s said, of course it was him!” Lucifer chirped.

“Lady Delta had also made me aware of my creator’s human form Lord Demiurge. Still though, Lord Ainz wouldn’t have allowed a human to stand near him. It is only logical that it would be Lord Tempest.” Heretic replied in a monotone.

“Really? Interesting…” Demiurge said with wide eyes, “That gives me an idea, but I shall carry it out later. Thank you my friends. Until we meet again.

“Goodbye. Demiurge.” Cocytus told his friend.

“Farewell everyone.” Toro said.

“Bye! It was nice seeing you all.” Lucifer told them with a bright smile while she jumped on Toro’s right shoulder.

“Until our next meeting. I have to resume my duty of aiding Neuronist and her Torturers with interrogating the prisoners.” Heretic bowed.

When they finished their goodbyes, the NPCs left to carry out their duties.

…

Scene Change: 5th Floor: Frozen Prison: Nigun’s POV:

Nigun was quietly crying in his cell. The torture he experienced was excruciating to say the least. He couldn’t even think straight after everything he was put through.

A creature that called itself “Neuronist” and a strange boy with an eyepatch wanted him to become completely obedient to people they called “Supreme Beings.”

At first he had rejected, the remnants of his faith wouldn’t allow him to betray the Slane Theocracy and its tenants.

But he gave up after a couple minutes of torture. After that he was questioned about things he couldn’t possibly know, and every time he didn’t answer every question perfectly he was put through hours of intense agony.

Honestly, he couldn’t even tell how long he has been imprisoned. It felt like days, weeks, months, if not years. But he had the suspicion that he had been here for only a few days.

Eventually, these monsters took the bodies of his fellow scripture members, the ones didn’t survive the torture, for some sort of unholy experiment. The strange boy told him that he would be kept alive to be tortured. The creature Neuronist said they had ‘other’ plans for him.

That filled him with dread.

After he was informed of his situation, the two monsters talked with each other for some time. He couldn’t hear most of their conversation, but he did hear that he was only going to be kept in this place for a little longer. After that most of his bindings were unlocked and he was healed.

He stopped thinking after hearing the sound of approaching footsteps. At first he was worried that he was going to be tortured again, however, as the sound got closer he could tell that the steps sounded… lighter. Not like the ones of that creature.

He expected some unsightly monstrosity but what he saw was a beauty beyond comprehension.

It was an angel in the form of a child, with long blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes, which seemed to have been made of the purest light from the sky. On her back were a pair of short, gray wings. She wore a white dress with a strange symbol he couldn’t make out. Yet, it looked like it was made out of gold.

“Pa-pardon me my lady but have you come to release me from this nightmare?”

The angel just smiled at him.

“My master and creator, the one you had fought, has decided your fate.”

Nigun froze.

“Master? Creator? Does that mean this beautiful pure being was created by that monster of a Dragon Lord? If that is true, then he wouldn’t be a monster but a god.” Nigun thought.

“W-hat is to be my f-fate?”

The angel gave him a warm smile.

“He has decided to free you from the binds of humanity. You will become something much greater than what you currently are.”

Nigun was stunned.

Nigun couldn’t tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Then again, he didn’t have a lot of options right now.

Lucifer noticed his hesitation and decided to go into further detail.

“My little brother has created several potions that will change your race. The race you will become has already been decided.”  
Lucifer saw the man’s expression went from fear, confusion, and intrigue to complete despair.

“I have personally sacrificed a portion of my own blood to allow you to become an angel like me.”

Nigun instantly straightened up. He could feel his despair turning into hope and excitement.

Only a true god could turn an ordinary human such as him into an angel.

A god that answered his prayers and could create holy beings such as angels.

A god who has provided him with a great opportunity.

“Thank you! I accept!”

The angel snapped her fingers and then his bindings were undone.

Nigun fell to the ground, he was too weak to stand because he had received very little food and rest.

The angel reached out her hand to his chin and raised his head. With the other hand she presented Nigun a small vial, which held a bright blue/white liquid. He quickly realized what it was and instantly took it from her hand.

“Would you mind telling me your name?” Lucifer asked.

“Nigun Grid Luin, my lady.”

“Well hello Nigun. Please drink.”

Nigun immediately drank the liquid in the vial. As he began to drink, he found that it tasted sweet but was hard to swallow.

After swallowing the final drop, his body felt light and was overcome with amazing energy.

It felt intoxicating at first, but it soon turned into pain, which only became more and more excruciating.

“Now you [Sleep].” Lucifer said in a kind voice.

A tiny blue magic circle appeared in her right hand and Nigun’s world turned dark.

Lucifer stared at Nigun with a sweet smile.

[Message] “Hello Lady Aureole. Can you please open a [Gate] leading to the 9th floor for me?”

[Message] “Gladly Lady Shadows.”

Aureole was always so nice. She and Lucifer were good friends because she was one of the few residents of Nazarick who didn’t hate humans.

Lucifer was planning on visiting Aureole by seeking the permission of Tempest or Ainz to enter the 8th floor but she would have to do that later.

A [Gate] appeared close to them. Lucifer picked up Nigun and stepped through the portal.

Lucifer arrived in the servant’s quarters on the 9th floor. The servants were informed of Nigun, so they took him from Lucifer and brought him to one of the empty rooms.

“Okay, now that that’s done, I have some free time on my hands. Nigun will wake up in a few hours then I’ll have to begin his training. I can’t pay Aureole a visit since I’m prohibited from entering the 8th. I know, I’ll go visit master Tempest and ask for his permission.”

Lucifer immediately darted to her master’s room.


	5. Let the Adventure Begin!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tempest and the newly named Ainz Ooal Gown set out to become Adventurers in the Re-Estize Kingdom.

The Tempest of Nazarick  
…  
What up loyal viewers! In this chapter, Ainz, Tempest, Narberal, Toro, and Heretic become adventurers. Ainz will go by ‘Momon,’ Tempest will go by ‘Cloud,’ Narberal will go by ‘Nabe,’ while Toro and Heretic will just go by their real names since people will find out that those two serve Nazarick.

As Entoma’s feelings for Tempest become clearer the NPCs will become more supportive of her pursuit of him because, in their eyes, if the Supremes Beings can create life out of nothing (meaning them) then who’s to say they can’t procreate with someone who’s of a completely different species?

Fair warning, as Tempest spends more time in the New World, he’ll become more dragon-like. Meaning he’ll become more greedy, merciless, and something of a Darwinist who sees the death of weaklings as the natural order of things (Dragons are apex predators after all).

I’m going to explain Tempest’s morals, he doesn’t believe in concepts like “good” or “evil” because he sees them as worthless labels invented by simple-minded morons that only see the world in black and white, which is abhorrent to Tempest. Sure, Tempest knows that some people are genuinely decent, and some people are genuinely scum, but he knows that people do good and bad things for selfish reasons. Everyone has good and evil in them as far as he’s concerned.

This time, Narberal, Heretic, and Toro are going to join Tempest’s and Ainz’s adventuring party because Tempest thinks it’s important to have a well-balanced team with Ainz (as Momon) and Toro (as Minos) as the front-line tanks, Narberal (as Nabe) and Tempest (as Cloud) as the support party member mages with offensive and defensive magic, and Heretic (as Kato) is the thief.

By the way, the fate of Six Arms will be slightly different than in canon. Yes, they’ll still be killed by Sebas (except Succulent) but Heretic will have Lucifer resurrect them because he sees a use for them. Six Arms is going to be working for Heretic from then on.

Unlike the rest of the denizens of Nazarick, Lucifer, Nigredo, and Pestonya opposed killing innocent people kidnapped from the Re-Estize Kingdom by Demiurge. The three of them went out of their way to free them though at the risk of punishment as a result of it. They ended up punished for it, but Tempest convinced Ainz to go easy on them by citing that they were just behaving the way that they were programmed to by him and their comrades.

Cloud will serve as a foil to Momon, while Momon tries to present himself as a kind, humble, and heroic adventurer; Cloud is blunt, rude, and arrogant (but he can be kind to people to have earned his respect or didn’t do anything to piss him off). Ainz will have trouble keeping Tempest under control because he had something of a temper as a human and it was only made worse by his emotion enhancement status.

As for Narberal, she’s still being punished since Entoma is Tempest’s personal maid for a month. This is more like her performing a service for the Supreme Beings.

Tempest and Narberal will serve as foils for Ainz and Toro as adventurers. While Ainz and Toro will try to act polite, modest, humble, helpful, and heroic (albeit Toro will be more sincere); Tempest and Narberal will be blunt, rude, arrogant, and condescending (Narberal more so than Tempest because she hates everyone outside of Nazarick. As for Tempest, his dragon nature will give him something of a superiority complex). Heretic will mostly remain silent because he’s busy analyzing their situations, but he won’t hesitate to voice his opinion. Ainz and Heretic will have trouble reining them in so they don’t do anything that will be counterproductive to their mission.

Just so you know, I deliberately mentioned Zero of Six Arms to serve as foreshadowing.

Ainz and Tempest’s adventuring party of Team Darkness are going to be called nicknames by the masses:  
-Ainz Ooal Gown/Momon: The Dark Hero  
-Tempest/Cloud: The Grand Magic Caster  
-Narberal Gamma/Nabe: The Beautiful Princess  
-Heretic/Kato: The One-Eyed Archer  
-Toro/Minos: The Immovable Mountain  
…  
Chapter 5: Let the Adventure Begin!  
…

Scene: Restaurant of Nazarick:

After waking up at around 9 a.m. I headed to the Restaurant of Nazarick with Entoma and Toro to get something to eat. I asked Belle to prepare my favorite dish, a large cheese pizza.

I was sitting at a fancy dining table while finishing my third slice, Toro was standing behind me on my right while Entoma was on my left side.

“How are you enjoying your meal, Lord Tempest?” Toro asked.

“Is it to your satisfaction?” Entoma said in a shy voice.

“It’s delicious. Thank you for the delicious treat Belle.” I complimented.

Belle, who was standing by the door to the restaurant while wearing a chef outfit, bowed.

“The greatest joy for a servant of Nazarick is to serve the Supreme Beings, Lord Tempest.”

I simply nodded at her response.

“But aren’t any of you going to eat something?” I was worried they were starving.

“I already ate a chicken salad my lord.” Belle said.

“I filled up before we got here.” Entoma said somewhat embarrassed.

“I wouldn’t dare to leave my master’s side.” Toro said.

“Nonsense Toro,” I shook my head, “A hungry servant can’t perform as efficiently as a fed servant, please get yourself something to eat.

Toro bowed.

“At once my master,” Toro said with a bow then turned to Belle. “Belle can you kindly prepare a steak?”

“I’ll get on it, little brother.” Belle then went back into the kitchen.

I sat there and ate in silence for 5 minutes as Belle left a kitchen with a delicious looking steak on a plate in her left hand.

“Here it is.” Belle said in a neutral tone as she placed the steak on the table next to mine then headed back to the kitchen to prepare other meals for the day.

“Thank you.” Toro replied gratefully then sat down to eat while using a knife, fork, and a napkin as a bid.

As I finished eating my pizza, the rest of the Pleiades came into the restaurant then bowed when they saw me.

“Good day to you Lord Tempest.” Yuri Alpha told me in a respectful manner.

“Good morning Lord Tempest.” Lupusregina Beta said in a cheerful voice.

“H-hello Lord Tempest.” Narberal Gamma said in worried voice while bowing deeply.

“Greetings Supreme One.” Shizu greeted in a dry tone.

“You look as majestic as ever Lord Tempest.” Solution Epsilon said to me in a sultry voice.

“I nodded.”

“Hello ladies. It is good to see you all today. Unfortunately, I can’t stay because I need to speak with Ainz in his office.” I then sat up.

“Toro come with me. Entoma, return to my room.” I commanded.

Toro had just finished his steak, so he proceeded to stand up.

“Entoma!” I barked.

The insect maid immediately looked at me in surprise.

“Head back to my room later.” I whispered to her.

She nodded.

Me and Toro left the room to meet with Ainz.

…

POV Change: Pleiades:

As the Pleiades saw Lord Tempest and Sir Toro leave the restaurant, they couldn’t help but wonder.

“Okay. Do any of you think that Lord Tempest seems… different today?” Lupusregina said out loud to her sisters who all but Entoma hummed in agreement.

“Somewhat. He appears… restless.” Yuri voiced her opinion.

“Perhaps Dragons require more rest than usual, and he needs more sleep?” Narberal thought aloud as she looked at Entoma who’s been quiet ever since Tempest left.

“Maybe, but rather then speculate we could ask someone who knows more than us. Wouldn’t you agree, Entoma?” Solution said in a teasing tone.

“Uggg?” Entoma snapped out of her stupor and turned toward her sisters.

“Oh, that’s right!” Lupusregina proclaimed as her mouth turned into a lecherous grin and swayed her way closer to Entoma, “When you left Lord Tempest’s room this morning, didn’t you come out of his bedroom with shaking legs? Just what were you two doing in there~su”

Entoma recalled that her sisters were passing by Lord Tempest’s room this morning.

“I-I already told all of you that nothing happened! Lord Tempest, he simply- all he did was-?” Entoma floundered about and waved her arms around in embarrassment as Lupusregina kept saying more perverted and obscene things.

“That’s enough.” Yuri said, getting the attention of the Pleiades, “Lupusregina, we all know that Entoma and Lord Tempest did not engage in that sort of behavior. If they had, we would know about it.”

“Yeah,” Lupusregina scratched her head in acknowledgement, “Fine big sister, I won’t tease Entoma anymore about the fact that Lord Tempest didn’t toss her on his bed and tore her-“

“Stoooooppppp iiiitttt!” Entoma wailed pitifully as she waved her arms in front of Lupusregina who merely gave her a mischievous grin as she was enjoying her sister’s embarrassment.

“…Then what happened between you too?” CZ asked stoically.

“Yes, did something occur between you and Lord Tempest?” Narberal said curiously.

“Wellll…” Entoma touched the tip of her claws together, the clicking sound echoed in the ensuing silence.

Entoma’s mind flashed back to the conversation she had with Tempest this morning.

…

Entoma’s Flashback: This morning in Tempest’s room:

Entoma, Tempest, and Toro were standing in Tempest’s luxurious suite.

Tempest was going through his closet, which was filled with various outfits and armors. Meanwhile, Toro stood guard by the entrance to the room while Entoma stood behind Tempest.

“Lord Tempest?” Entoma asked.

“Yes, Entoma?” Tempest turned his head to face Entoma.

“Do you really not require a guard while you’re outside of Nazarick?” Entoma was hoping she could change Lord Tempest’s mind about his decision to travel outside alone so she could spend more time with him.

Tempest sighed.

“Entoma, it’s nice that you NPCs want to protect me and Ainz but you’re worrying too much. We can take care of ourselves. Besides, Toro, Heretic, and Narberal will be there with us. We decided this is a better way for her to redeem herself for her earlier behavior.”

“Lord Tempest, forgive my impertinence but I don’t understand why you and Lord Ainz are putting yourselves in danger by exploring this world personally.” Entoma said while bowing, “If you just gave the order, we’ll gladly lay down our lives.”

“It is the duty of all the residents of Nazarick to protect the Supreme Beings my lord.” Toro added.

“Entoma! Toro!” He snapped at them.

His tone caused them to stand stock-still.

“Both of you, look at me and just listen,” Tempest said in a soothing manner, causing Toro to stare at him intensely and Entoma to look at him with her bug mask.

“Me and Ainz can’t stay cooped up in here forever. Besides, we’ll If we aren’t brave to traverse this new world ourselves, then we don’t deserve to be your masters.”

“Th-that is now true! We are all proud to serve the Supreme Beings! It’s what they created us for! B-but Lord Tempest, if you or Lord Ainz get injured when we could’ve prevented it, it would mean we have failed our dut-!” Entoma started shouting, she was getting hysterical since the antennae on her head were twitching frantically.

Tempest raised his right hand, causing Toro and Entoma to bow their heads, it appeared as if he intended to punish her.

Except he lowered it slowly on top of her head, making sure he was being as gentle as possible.

Instead of the familiar softness of regular hair like Aura’s or Mare’s, Entoma’s ‘hair’ felt hard and rigid but he kept petting her.

When Toro raised his head he just stared perplexed while Entoma seemed shocked by this gesture of affection.

“Huh?” She jumped in surprise and looked up at Tempest, her antennae were basically vibrating now.

“Entoma, I appreciate your concern for myself and Ainz,” he said with a smile, “But try to have a little faith in us please. We’re not leaving, and we won’t put ourselves in danger. So just relax.”

Tempest hoped he wasn’t lying about not leaving but he suppressed the thought.

“Emmm…” Entoma said in a shy voice, not looking at him and shuffling about, too embarrassed to speak.

This was getting awkward.

“Oh, sorry. I wasn’t trying to make you uncomfortable.” Tempest lifted his head before Entoma started shaking her head vigorously back and forth.

“No, no! This is fine Lord Tempest! Perfect actually!” Entoma insisted, looking up at him.

While her expression didn’t change you could feel the determination radiating from her.

Tempest put his right hand back down on her ‘hair’, Entoma made a strange clicking sound as if she’s some sort of cat or something.

“Entoma, weren’t you listening when I told you to relax?” He asked her as he continued petting the clicking Insectoid maid.

“Wha?” She looked up at him, “O-oh! Of course, I heard you! Sorry Lord Tempest!” She bowed, shaking in embarrassment.

“Hey, don’t worry Entoma. I’m just asking you to trust us. We’ll be back real soon.” He said as he lifted his hand from her head.

Entoma made an even stranger noise as he removed his hand, but she eventually bowed to him and said:

“You’re are right Lord Tempest. I shall eagerly await your return.”

Glad that worked out well.

“Thanks, Entoma. Speaking of trust, I want to give you something.” He accessed his inventory and took out three items.

His helmet and white cloak, which he put on, and a small silver key which he gave to Entoma.

She gingerly took the key from him with her claws then looked up at him.

“That’s the key to my room. I don’t know when I’ll return so I’m trusting you to guard my room while I’m out… especially from perverted vampires.” He muttered the last part.

“I-I…” Entoma started looking between Tempest and the key, her whole body was shaking, and her high-pitched cutesy voice was rising higher.

“O-of course, Lord Tempest! I will proudly guard this room and this key with my own life!” Entoma said in an enthusiastic tone while clutching the key to her bosom with all her strength.

Tempest shook his head.

“Hey, don’t say things like that,” He scolded her gently, “I care more about you then my room. Objects can be replaced but you’re one of a kind Entoma. I just trust you to ensure that my room stays the way that I left it while I’m gone. Please don’t put yourself in harm’s way for something so insignificant.”

Sure, Tempest found Entoma irritating at times because of her overprotectiveness, insistence that she guard him at all times, and her constantly being on guard. She was like his mother only even more smothering. Although, he did enjoy her company.

Besides, there are other rooms to stay in. Losing one room isn’t a big deal.

“O-oh…” Entoma said, shuffling about and staring at the floor but still holding the key very close to her, “R-right, Lord Tempest! I understand. I will make sure your bedroom is the same upon yo-your return.”

Tempest raised a brow at her sudden change of behavior.

“May I be excused for a minute, Lord Tempest?” Entoma asked.

Well, that was new. Usually she would insist on being near him but whatever, she probably needs a moment to herself.

“You may leave.” He said in a soft tone.

“T-thank you.” Entoma said in a shaky voice as she walked out of the room with her legs trembling.

…

End of Flashback: Pleiades in the Present:

Entoma grabs her face-mask, and stares at the floor, “Ohhhhh… It’s really embarrassing…”

Just before her sisters could press her for more details, Yuri clapped to get their attention.

“We can discuss this later. Right now, we have important work to do. We must not fail the Supreme Beings!” Yuri declared in an authoritative tone.

“Yes ma’am!” The rest of the Pleiades shouted, and they all left the restaurant in order to tend to their duties.

But suddenly, Narberal and Entoma stopped.

“Apologies sister Yuri but Lord Tempest used [Message] to inform me and Entoma that we are needed in Lord Ainz’s office.” Narberal explained stoically.

“We mustn’t disappoint the Supreme Beings.” Entoma said somewhat shyly.

“Very well then. You both may go but bring glory to the Great Tomb of Nazarick by carrying out the will of the Supreme Ones!” Yuri commanded in a calm tone.

“Yes, Vice-Captain!” Both Narberal and Entoma declared while bowing then left.

…

Current Scene: Ainz’s Office:

Momo, the Supreme Ruler of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, had a luxurious office.

Said office was filled with tasteful and exotic furniture, every single piece being of exquisite design and decoration. The crimson carpet upon the floor was thick and soft, swallowing the footsteps of those who trod upon it. Flags bearing assorted insignia hung upon the walls in the depths of the room.

An imposing mahogany desk sat in the center of the office. Its owner sat behind it, upon a black leather chair.

If one were to describe that man in one phrase — dressed as he was in a long, black robe which seemed to absorb the light — then he would have to be an "Overlord of Death" or “Shinigami” as the Japanese would say.

His exposed head was a fleshless skull. The points of crimson light within its empty eye sockets were blended with faint traces of darkness.

This was the man once known as Momonga, who had now taken on the name of the guild, Ainz Ooal Gown.

He was my best friend.

I stood behind Momo as we got down to business.

My monk-class NPC Toro was standing guard by my right side. He gave off the impression of a mountain, strong and incapable of being moved.

Ainz meshed his skeletal fingers together. The nine rings on those fingers glittered as they reflected the magical radiance of 「Continual Light」 spells.

“Good grief… where shall I go from here?” Ainz asked.

YGGDRASIL was a Dive Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game, which allowed its players to immerse themselves in virtual reality and experience their adventures within the game world with their own bodies. It had been eight days since its last day of service — when me and Ainz had been mysteriously transferred to a new world in the form of our characters from the game.

During this time, Ainz and I had studied the conditions and vassals of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick and learned about the various differences between this place and the game world. Now, we were deciding on what we should do next.

“All shall proceed as you desire,” the beautiful woman replied to Ainz’s muttering.

“The will of the Supreme Ones is absolute,” the younger-sounding female inputted.

The first voice belonged to a world class beauty in a pure white dress, whose faint smile made her resemble a goddess. Her long black hair was lustrous and silky, in stark contrast with the color of her dress, and it reached down to her waist. However, she was not a human being.

Her golden pupils were vertically slit, and a pair of curling, ram-like horns protruded from both her temples. In addition, a pair of black-feathered wings grew from her hips and covered her legs.

The second voice belonged to a teenage girl with beautiful white hair and youthful features. She wore an elegant black dress that you’d expect to see at a fancy party.

“Is that so, Albedo? Belle? I am pleased by your loyalty.” Ainz complimented.

“Yes. Thank you for all your hard work.” I congratulated the two females.

She was the Guardian Overseer of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, Albedo. She was the Non-Player Character (NPC) who was in charge of the seven Floor Guardians.

When our guildmates built the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick in the past, Albedo had been created as to work for them as an underling. However, she was now sentient and had pledged her undying loyalty to Ainz and me (especially Ainz since we programmed her to be in love with him).

The second girl was my own NPC, Belle von Bane. I created her to be my ultimate trump card since her shapeshifting abilities allowed her to copy the appearance and abilities of others, making her a very versatile fighter.

Belle was here today to help Albedo with the briefing regarding our current predicament.

While this situation pleased us, on the flip side of things, Ainz had only been a lowly salaryman in his previous life while I was just an intern, and so all this placed a great deal of stress on us, be it from having to act like proper masters in front of our subordinates or running Nazarick smoothly as its ruler and champion.

The biggest problem was the sheer lack of information about this new world that we currently inhabited.

“…Then, how about the next report?” I suggested.

“Here, Lord Tempest and Lord Ainz.” Belle said.

Ainz accepted the document from Belle and immediately began scanning through it while I leaned in to look. The circular characters had been written with a fountain pen.

This particular report came from Aura Bella Fiora and Heretic, Guardian of the Sixth Floor and one of the residents of her floor.

It stated that they had not yet made contact with YGGDRASIL players like Ainz and me, nor had they found any trace of them. She had done a search of the forest near the Great Underground Tomb, and Aura had found a lake among the foothills of the mountain range at the end of the forest.

Ainz nodded. Relief flooded through me as I learned that they had not found the beings in this world of which we should be most wary — other players.

“I understand. Tell Heretic, Aura, and her people to continue carrying out our orders.” Ainz commanded in his “Overlord” tone.

“Understood.” Albedo said.

“Anything else to discuss?” I asked.

“My lords. I require more metal for my project.” Belle told us.

“Are you referring to your new robot soldiers that Demiurge and Heretic are helping you build in their spare time, Belle?” Ainz wondered.

“The very same master.”

“It shall be done.” Ainz informed her.

“Also, Nigun has been sent back to the Slane Theocracy with a Doppelgänger to help with his cover story, so they can infiltrate the Theocracy and have easier access to the nations secret.” Albedo was telling us about our new agent, the one I spared back at Carne Village.

“Well done Albedo. Make sure Nigun and his guard keep us informed of any developments in their mission.” Ainz told her.

“It shall be do—”

A quiet knocking came from the door. Albedo glanced at Ainz’s expression, then bowed deeply and headed to the door. After verifying the identity of the visitor, Albedo replied:

“Shalltear seeks an audience.”

“Shalltear? That’s fine, let her in.” Ainz permitted.

“Sure, she can come.” I gave my approval.

After receiving Ainz’s permission to enter, a girl of around fourteen years of age elegantly entered the office.

She wore a black ballroom gown with a bell-like skirt. Her skin was as pale as wax, and her perfectly proportioned face was that of a world class beauty. Her long silver hair swayed as she walked, and her ample bosom — which did not match her age — wobbled mightily with every step that she took.

She was the Guardian of the First to Third Floors, the “True Ancestor,” Shalltear Bloodfallen.

“Greetings, Lord Ainz. It’s always a pleasure to make your acquittance Lord Tempest.” She purred.

“The same to you, Shalltear. Why have you come to my room today?” Ainz asked.

“Naturally, it was to admire your handsome features, Lord Ainz. And of course, I would never miss the opportunity to gaze upon your beautiful visage Lord Tempest.” Shalltear stated in a breathy voice and faster than I could react she stepped up to me.

She could touch my face.

Crap.

She’s doing this in front of Ainz, Albedo, and Belle.

Speaking of them.

While there was obviously no expression on Ainz’s skeletal face, the crimson points of light in his eye sockets flared brightly.

Belle just gave a disapproving look.

Albedo’s reaction seemed more neutral.

“Oh, Lord Tempest…” Shalltear sighed as she kept feeling my face, her fingers were cool to the touch, “Such vibrant scales, like the finest yellow diamonds…and even that hag Albedo can’t ruin this moment.”

Wow.

I really need an adult right.

“Ainz, Belle, Albedo. Please help me!” I screamed internally.

I wanted to tell her to dispense with the pleasantries, but I swallowed my words. However, I could see the smile on Albedo’s face twisting as she looked upon Shalltear’s crimson eyes, whose pupils were slowly filling with arousal.

It was still a smile, and her beauty was not diminished in the slightest, but it was no longer a pleasant expression.

Rather, it resembled the grinning of a demon.

Still, I quietly breathed a sigh of relief, because Albedo was staring at Shalltear, and not me.

“Then, seeing as you have looked your fill, you may leave, Shalltear. Lord Ainz, Lord Tempest, and I are currently deciding the future of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. Would you mind not interfering with our important work?”

“Indeed. Haven’t you done quite enough already?” Belle asked in an obviously sarcastic tone.

“…It is basic courtesy to greet someone politely before launching into the main issue… shriveled old ladies are such a bother. Could it be they’re desperate because they’re past their expiry date?” Shalltear removed her hands with a pout.

“…Don’t you think that food without an expiry date because it’s stuffed full of preservatives is the same as poison? Expired food would be safer compared to that, don’t you think?”

“…I’d advise you not to look down on food poisoning. You might get an infection.”

“…The important thing is whether it can be eaten, right? Compared to what looks like a large display of food, but the truth is… well, you know what I mean, right?”

“…A food display? You’ll die for that, bitch.”

“…Now who’s the expired goods, hmph.”

The looks on the feuding belles before me could chill a hundred-million-year-old love.

I decided to speak up before the two of them could no longer hold their impulses back and started ripping into each other.

“Alright you two. No more fighting!” I demanded.

“Yes. That’s enough playing around, you two.” Ainz agreed.

Their faces blossomed into beaming smiles as they heard our commands. Their previous expressions were gone, and now they were but two innocent, adorable girls.

“Women are really scary… no, it’s just these two who are especially scary… being monsters will do that.” I was getting afraid.

After becoming a Dragonoid, any strong emotions I experienced were enhanced. Even so, he felt that the speed at which they had changed their expression was quite frightening.

The two of them were at each other’s throats because they were rivals in love.

Albedo and Shalltear were both infatuated with Ainz. Although, Shalltear made it very clear she was also pining after me. Any man who was unhappy with receiving the affections of two such gorgeous women was no man at all.

However, Ainz was no longer a man. Well, not a normal one obviously. He could not bring himself to accept their feelings just like that.

Ainz had told me that the main reason was because the necrophiliac Shalltear had once whispered sweetly into his ear, “This beautiful bone structure must have come from the hands of a divine Creator.”

To Shalltear, these words might have been a mumbled expression of love — or perhaps they were praise — but they were a great shock to Ainz. After all, this was the first time in his life that he had been complimented on his looks — but it was as a skeleton. It had been several days since then, but he still seemed shaken.

Ainz replied:

“I ask you once more, Shalltear. Do you have anything else for us?”

“Yes. I will be meeting Sebas and Solution afterwards in order to fulfill the task set to me. Since I may not be able to return to Nazarick for some time, I came to bid farewell to my beloved masters before I left.”

I remembered that Ainz had given her such a task.

Ainz nodded.

“I see. Then, Shalltear, take care when accomplishing your task and return home safely.”

“Please be careful.” I said in an almost pleading tone.

“Yes!” she replied in a bright and clear voice.

“Then, you may leave, Shalltear. Also, as you go, tell Yuri or CZ to send Demiurge and Heretic over. Tell them I need to discuss contingency plans with them.”

“Understood, Lord Ainz.” Shalltear said with a bow then walked to the door.

“Shalltear, before you go, can you do me one favor?” I asked the small vampire.

Shalltear turned to face me, she had a big smile on her face.

“Of course! I am proud to be of service Lord Tempest!” She said, with a heavy blush on her face.

Yeah not that kind of favor.

“Did you talk to Entoma and Narberal to see that almost attacking me in my human form isn’t as bad as you made it out to be?”

“Yes,” she said in a somewhat disappointed tone, “They approached me some time ago. I deeply apologize for my behavior Lord Tempest. I deserve any punishment you deem appropriate for me.”

What? Just what did they talk about?

Never mind.

“We can discuss your punishment later Shalltear,” I was starting to sweat from this awkward conversation, “Until then you can atone by serving Nazarick to the best of your ability. But know that what you did wasn’t a crime.”

“I understand Lord Tempest. I will not fail you Lord Tempest!” She said while bowing.

At least she seems to feel better.

“I appreciate it Shalltear. I hope you’re feeling better. I’ll see you after your mission is finished.

“I am always available Lord Tempest.” Shalltear said while giving me a flirtatious wink that caused me to blush under my helmet.

Shalltear walked out of the room.

…

Scene Change: E-Rantel:

The Fortress City of E-Rantel stood at the intersection of three borders — those of the Slane Theocracy, the Baharuth Empire, and the Re-Estize Kingdom. It was so named because it was defended by three layers of walls. The districts enclosed by each concentric circle of the walls were distinctly different from each other.

The outermost district was sometimes used to billet the troops from the Royal Army, and so it was fully furnished with barracks and other military facilities.

The innermost district was the administrative area of the city. In addition, the district also contained storehouses for combat rations. Thus, it was heavily guarded.

Between these two areas was the residential district, where the people of E-Rantel made their homes. This place best fit the image that came to mind when one thought of a city.

There were several plazas here, and the largest of them was called the Central Plaza. It was filled with stalls selling vegetables, spices, and other such commercial products.

Amidst the crowds, the stall owners energetically shouted their sales pitches to the people walking by, while the older women haggled with the merchants as they looked for fresh food. Drawn by fragrant scents, young men purchased skewers of roasted meat which oozed with warm juices.

The rowdy, energetic atmosphere of this place should have lasted until the sun went down. However, it suddenly went silent as several figures emerged from a five-story building nearby.

Everyone in the plaza froze where they stood, their eyes were drawn to the five of them.

One of these five people was a girl, who looked to be in her late teens. Her tapered eyes gleamed like onyxes, while her thick and lustrous black hair was tied into a ponytail. Her snow-white skin shone like pearls in the sun.

What drew their attention most was the air of elegance which surrounded her, followed closely by her exotic beauty that would make anyone do a double take. Although the dark brown robe she wore was plain in make, it looked like an opulent dress on her.

The gender of the person walking next to her left was unclear. Or rather, there was no way to tell her partner’s gender.

Someone muttered, “Dark Warrior.”

Indeed, that person was sheathed in an intricately engraved suit of full plate armor that was edged in gold. There was no way to see that person’s face through the narrow slits of the closed helm which that person wore. A pair of greatswords were visible below that person’s flowing red cape, and they looked as impressive as that person’s armor.

What made the sight comical, or rather awe-inspiring was the person walking next to the armored figure.

Walking next to him was a child with nicely combed dark hair, hazel eyes, and barely reached about above his companion’s waist in height. Contrast to the warrior, the boy wore a fine white mage robe made of silk which looked like something a noble would wear for a special occasion, a beautiful pair of white leather boots, and he was carrying a silver staff with the tip culminating in a lightning bolt.

The last two were just as interesting.

One was a child around the size of the other boy. He was wearing a black eyepatch over his left eye, a green scarf, a green cloak with a hood, brown leather gloves, gray hard leather armor, brown boots, a brown Robin Hood hat, a brown belt with a sheathed dagger on it, and he had a brown composite longbow and black quiver on his back.

The last individual was a well-built, mountain of a man with dark skin, a full head of hair, and was wearing a shaolin monk outfit that consisted of an orange robe, black belt, white socks, and black Chinese Tai Chi shoes.

The five of them looked around, and the fully armored person took a step forward.

The onlookers watched the group vanish into the distance, and then immediately began whispering about what they had seen. They did not seem afraid of their arms and armor.

That was because the building the pair had just left was called the "Adventurer’s Guild," It was a place that only monster-hunting professionals would visit, so it was hardly strange to see armed people coming out of there. In fact, several other similarly equipped people had left the building in the meantime. Those with keen eyes might have noticed a pair of copper plates hanging around the necks of that group.

That said, the five of them had drawn all that attention because of the woman’s beauty, her partner’s magnificent set of full plate, the boy’s expensive-looking equipment, the monk’s height, and the archer’s strange appearance.

…

E-Rantel: Tempest’s POV:

This place smells like someone took a shit everywhere.

Fortunately, I’ve grown accustomed to foul odors since Earth was full of them.

I had to persuade Ainz to let Toro and Heretic join me, him, and Narberal as adventurers by pointing out that a well-balanced party will draw us less unwanted attention. People would get suspicious if a party consisted of only a knight and two arcane magic casters.

Along with Ainz, Narberal, and Heretic, I was wearing a silver ring with a blue stone in it on my right ring finger that seems capable of hiding an unknown amount of magical power from being identified.

This will make it harder for people to tell how strong I am if they can’t sense my true power.

On my left ring finger was my Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown. I brought it with me so I can return to Nazarick whenever I wanted.

Our group walked quietly down a narrow road.

Sunlight reflected off the water caught in wagon-ruts on the road. Unlike proper cobbled roads, said water mixed with the earth and sand, which made for treacherous footing. A moment’s carelessness might have led to a fall, but the five of us possessed excellent balance, and so we moved along the road almost as quickly as a proper one.

After verifying that there was nobody else around us, Narberal turned to the fully-armored person beside her and said:

“Lord Ai—”

“—No, my name is Momon. Neither are you Narberal Gamma, battle maid (Pleiades) of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, but Nabe, one of Momon’s adventuring partners. Also, Tempest is Cloud, Heretic is Kato, and Toro is Minos, fellow adventurers.”

The person in full plate — Ainz — interrupted the girl — Narberal — halfway through her reply.

“Ah! My apologies, Lord Momon.”

“Also, don’t call me or Cloud lord. We are simple adventurers, and companions. It would be weird to address us like that.”

“Seriously Nabe give it a rest with the ‘lord’ talk,” I said bluntly, “Just talk to us casually.”

“B-But! How could I possibly be so disrespectful to the Supreme Ones?” Narberal asked.

“A servant of Nazarick wouldn’t dare address a Supreme Being in such a blasphemous manner.” Toro said.

“For the sake of our mission it is only logical to maintain appearances by conversing with each other as if we were equals.” Heretic explained in a calculating tone.

Ainz gestured at Narberal, Toro, and Heretic to keep their voices down. Narberal and Toro had raised them in their excitement. Then, in a tone that was somewhere between resignation and helplessness, he replied:

“Like I’ve already said, several times, in this place I am Momon the Dark… no, just Momon, and Tempest is Cloud, and we are your companions. So, don’t call us lord. That’s an order.”

After a short silence, Narberal reluctantly replied:

“Understood, S-sir Momon.”

“Apologies master.” Toro replied.

“Yeah, you guys are doing a swell job at blending in.” I muttered sarcastically.

“Forget it, this is fine too. Actually, dropping the ‘sir’ would be good as well. After all, how shall I say this, addressing your partner as ‘sir’ might make people think there’s a distance between us.”

“Or that you work for us… we could give people the wrong idea.” I pointed out.

“But… would that not be too disrespectful...?”

Ainz shrugged as Narberal mumbled.

“We need to avoid unwanted attention because there is still so much we don’t know about this world.” I told Nabe.

“We cannot reveal our true identities. You understand that, right?” Ainz asked.

“Of course.”

“...Your tone… mm, forget it. In any case… what I want to say is that you must be very careful in your words and actions.” Ainz informed her.

“...Understood, S-sir Momon. However, is it really all right for me to accompany you? Would not the beautiful and gentle Lady Albedo be better for this task?”

“Gentle?” I didn’t get this impression of her when she looked ready to tear Shalltear apart this morning.

“Albedo…”

Ainz’s words betrayed his complicated feelings as he replied:

“I need her to manage Nazarick for me while I am travelling.”

“It’s pretty much her job.” I agreed with Ainz.

“...Though I fear to offend you, could the task of running Nazarick not be given to Lord Cocytus or Lady Belle? The Guardians all say this too… that for the sake of your safety, Lady Albedo is the best choice as your companion. Do you not think so?”

“From a tactical standpoint, Lady Albedo’s defense capabilities are even superior to Toro’s. Wouldn’t she make for a fine shield, Lord Ainz?” Heretic asked.

Narberal’s and Heretic’s questions seemed to make Ainz uneasy, he was probably smiling bitterly underneath his helmet.

Among all the Guardians, Albedo had objected the most strenuously when Ainz had announced our decision to visit E-Rantel. It began when she learned that she would not be able to accompany Ainz on our journey.

After the transition to this mysterious new world, Ainz and I had gone for a walk without our vassals, something which Albedo blamed herself for. Thus, he could not rebuke her too harshly. However, this was a deliberate expedition, unlike the stroll he had taken last time, and so he had to stick to his guns.

As a Guardian she would obey our orders without fail, even if they conflicted with her own opinions. Yet, Ainz did not think of that as a good thing. All the Guardians were the product of his fellow guild members’ hard work, and he felt guilty about forcing his will upon them.

Therefore, Ainz tried to persuade Albedo — who staunchly disagreed with him — to come around to his way of thinking. However, neither of them could accept the other’s opinions. At first, Ainz thought they would be deadlocked forever, but after Demiurge whispered something into Albedo’s ear, her resistance suddenly evaporated. In the end, she fully approved of his journey and even sent him off with a smile.

Until now, he still did not know what Demiurge had said to her. Ainz was a little uneasy about what could have made Albedo reverse her opinion so suddenly.

“...I did not bring her along because we trust her more than anyone else. It is because she is in Nazarick that we can leave it in peace.”

“Yeah, she can run that place on her own. And besides, she has Demiurge and Belle helping her, so she’s more than covered.” I stated in a reassuring tone.

“I see! In other words, Lady Albedo is the closest person to you, S-sir Momon?”

That’s all she got? Maybe’s just a big fan of Ainzo? Or Albezo? Whatever you want to call Ainz with Albedo.

While he did not reply, “Mm, well, kind of,” Momo did nod in response to Narberal’s question.

“I am fully aware that this is potentially dangerous.”

“So am I…” I muttered.

Ainz raised his gauntleted right hand and wiggled its ring finger.

“However, we must go in person. If I stay in Nazarick, there is a chance that I might make a miscalculation. Therefore, I need to personally make contact with the outside world… indeed, there are other methods I could use, but all of them make me uneasy, given that there is so little we know about the situation. Also, Tempest is my champion, so it is his duty to protect me. He goes where I go.”

Hopefully not everywhere.

Narberal replied, “I see,” with a look of understanding on her face. 

Ainz narrowed his eyes at her through the slits of his helmet, and then asked in a somewhat uneasy tone:

“Incidentally, I have a question for you, Toro, and Heretic… Do any of you think humans are inferior lifeforms?”

“Yes, they are. Humans are worthless trash.”

“They have some value as specimens but otherwise I don’t care for them.” Heretic said in a cold voice.

“I do believe that some humans have the potential to be powerful warriors.” Toro calmly explained.

They delivered their answers with firm conviction and without a moment’s hesitation. Ainz muttered, “Ah, so you guys feel that way too,” but his voice was too soft to reach Narberal’s ears.

After that, he whispered to me, “I didn’t want to bring her along because her personality makes her react poorly to humans. Looks like I should have been certain of my subordinates’ personalities beforehand.”

I shrugged, “Blame our old comrades for making them the way they are.”

One of the reasons why he had not taken Albedo with us was because she firmly believed that humans were inferior lifeforms. If he brought someone like that into a highly populated city and then took his eyes off her for just a moment, there was a very real possibility that he might look back to find a gore-soaked abattoir. In addition, Albedo had no disguise skills and could not conceal her horns and wings, which was another point against her.

The greatest reason, however, was one that he could never speak out loud.

That was the fact that Ainz was a mere salaryman, and he had no confidence in running an organization if he had to rely on reports from others, with no direct observation on his part. Because of that, he handed the task of managing the Nazarick to the talented Albedo. If one had a capable subordinate, allowing them to take charge was a wise gesture; interference from an incompetent superior would only lead to tragedy.

In addition, Albedo was bound to Ainz by the twin shackles of "love" and "loyalty." That was why Ainz could leave the operations of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick to her.

“Love, huh...” Sounds sappy to me.

Every time he saw Albedo, and every time she declared her love for him, Ainz was reminded of the mistake we made in altering Albedo’s settings. Indeed, in the last moments before the game ended, he had changed Albedo’s character settings so that she would deeply love Momonga — in other words, Ainz — and I encouraged him to do it. Of course, we couldn’t have known that we would be transported to this new world. It had merely been a final, little joke.

Still, when I thought about it — even if Albedo did not mind — what would our friend Tabula Smaragdina think about what we had done?

What if it were me? What if our comrades had interfered with my hand-created NPCs (Belle von Bane, Heretic, Toro, and Lucifer Shadows)...?

Worse still, we had made use of Albedo’s absolute loyalty toward Momo for our own gain. Ainz hated himself for that.

I shook my head to clear away these dark thoughts.

Ainz turned to the NPCs and said:

“...Nabe, Minos, Kato, I won’t tell the three of you to cast away those thoughts, but at the very least, you must control yourselves. This is a human town, and we do not know what exceptional individuals they have among them. Therefore, we should try our best not to make enemies.”

“Yeah, let’s avoid causing any trouble,” I suggested.

Narberal, Toro, and Heretic bowed deeply to us to show their loyalty and obedience. Ainz extended his hand to them, to bid them raise their heads. Then he continued:

“There is one more thing. When we intend to fight in earnest, we might radiate a… killing intent, which humans might be able to sense. Well, something like that might happen. Therefore, none of you are to get serious without our permission. Do you understand?”

“I understand, S-sir Momon.” Nabe replied.

“It will be done.” Toro said.

“Affirmative.” Heretic confirmed briefly.

“Very good… Then, the inn we heard about should be nearby.” I announced.

Ainz and I looked around.

There were several shops open for business nearby, their customers filing in and out of them. To the side were several people in work aprons, carrying goods.

In this densely populated commercial district, we had to look for the inn by inspecting the pictures on the shops’ signs. This was because none of us could read this country’s language.

Before long, Ainz found the picture that we were looking for. A large five storey building.

“This dump is the place we’re looking for?” I asked Ainz while not bothering to hide my immediate disdain for this place.

“It matches the description we given at least.”

“Correct. All the evidence points to this structure being the Adventurers Guild.” Heretic explained.

“Okay, let’s go,” I said with an enthusiastic smile as I forced my disappointment down.

I was going to become a real adventurer!

I started walking toward the double doors before Ainz grabbed my shoulder.

“Let me enter first Cloud. Just make sure you remember our cover story when people ask who we are.” He whispered to me and made his way to the doors.

“Relax, I got this, ‘Momon’,” I pouted at the armored spellcaster and walked beside him as we made our way to the doors of the Adventurer’s Guild.

Momonga’s steps quickened, and the rest of us followed suit.

Ainz scraped off the mud caked on his sabatons, climbed the steps to the western-style saloon doors, and opened them with both hands.

The windows were closed, and so the interior was somewhat dark. People who were used to the light outside would probably not be able to see their hands stretched out in front of their faces. However, I, Ainz, Narberal, and Heretic possessed Dark Vision, and we could see clearly with this meager amount of illumination.

The inside of the building was quite spacious. The first floor was a dining area, with a counter further within. That counter was backed by shelves that contained dozens of bottles of alcohol. The door beside the counter most likely led to a kitchen.

A spiral staircase turned up in the corner of the dining area. According to the receptionist at the guild, the guest rooms were located on the second and third floors. One could see the scattered customers within seated around several round tables. Almost all of them were men, and the promise of violence hung heavily over them.

Everyone’s attention was on us. I could feel everyone’s eyes on us, and the talking was brought down to whispers. They looked at Ainz as though they were sizing him up. The only person who did not pay attention to us was a woman seated in a corner. She was staring intently at a small bottle on her table.

Seriously, what were these morons staring at? I know we’re a pretty diverse group but oddly attention-grabbing.

Ignoring the whispers, we made our way to one of the available counters. I could hear the comments people were making about us with every step I took.

“… Do you see that armor that guy is wearing? Must’ve cost a fortune!...”

“… Who Cares?! That kid is wearing a fancy robe and a strange staff! They must be family heirlooms…”

“… Did you see that hot chick that came with them? Do you think she’s the mother of those two boys and one of the men must be her husband?...”

“… Probably not. Who’d bring kids into a place like this anyway?...”

“… Why is that kid wearing an eyepatch?...”

“… How should I know!? Probably to make himself look older, how could a kid have an injury like that anyway?...”

“… Can you believe how huge that guy in the robes is? Maybe he’s as strong as that Zero guy from Six Arms?...”

“… Shut up! Don’t you think some of their people might hear you?!...”

This is getting on my nerves.

“I didn’t go to college so a bunch of strangers can call me a kid! I’m 23-years-old dammit! I’m pretty much an adult!” I scowled at their comments.

I really need to do something about my human. I don’t want to stay small forever!

“… Does anyone hear something?...”

That comment made me realize that my mounting anger was causing me to unknowingly charge electricity around my body, so I made it vanish before anyone noticed.

I just kept walking and decided that the people in the peanut gallery weren’t worth confronting.

We arrived at a counter with a pretty young brown-haired woman behind it who stared at us while smiling.

“Well, hello there. May I help you with something?”

“Greetings,” Ainz nodded, “My name is Momon, these are my companions Cloud, Nabe, Kato, and Minos. We would like to register as Adventurers.”

I was barely taller than the counter. God this sucks!

The nice lady looked over at me and Heretic with an awkward smile, “Eh… may I ask how old you two are?”

Give me a break.

“I’m 23.” I replied harshly.

“I am 25.” Kato stated in a neutral tone.

Judging by the baffled reactions of the people behind us and the furrowed brow on the receptionist’s face, I doubt they believe us.

“O-oh, I see… In any case, there is an Entry Fee of 5 silver and the Literacy Test which is 5 copper.”

“Thank you.” Ainz said, no doubt grateful that age wouldn’t be a problem for us here.

Ainz picked up a small leather bag that was dangling from his waist and took out 5 silver and 5 copper coins, he handed them to the woman who proceeded to count them. With a satisfied nod, she reached under the desk and pulled out 5 slips of paper and put them in front of us.

“Kindly fill out these Literacy Test forms if you would.”

I had to stand on my tiptoes to get a better look at the papers until Momonga took them and handed one to me. I just angrily grabbed the form from him.

Ainz then gave a form to Nabe, Minos, and Kato.

I took a look at the form filled with words and boxes.

I realized that I couldn’t understand a word of it.

This was frustrating. Having to learn an entirely new language was a giant pain in the ass.

I looked at Nabe, Minos, and Kato behind. They were staring at their papers intensely. I doubt they understood the language either.

I looked up at Ainz who was staring at his sheet, his closed visor was hiding his eyes, but I bet he was thinking the same thing I was.

“Can we do this at a table?” Momo finally asked.

The young lady gave us a knowing smile, “Of course. Please, feel free to take as much time as you need.”

Thanks for the condescending compassion lady!

After thanking her, Ainz grabs his sheet and we go over to an empty table in the corner that has five chairs, I could see everyone’s eyes were following us as we walked but I toned them out.

I sat on Ainz’s right while Nabe sat on his left, Minos and Kato sat on the opposite side of us.

“Great. We finally get the chance to be real Adventurers but the only thing stopping us is a piece of paper we can’t read! How pitiful does that sound?” I grumbled.

“Very. I did find it strange that we couldn’t read any signs on the way here. This could prove… problematic.”

“No kiddin’,” I replied sarcastically. As I stared at my sheet I was getting more and more frustrated by the indecipherable symbols on the paper.

“If I may sir,” Kato intervened, “Perhaps it would be productive to seek assistance from someone who can aid us with understanding the language.”

I glared at Kato.

The thought of asking for help made me sick because it would make me seem stupid.

But I didn’t see any other choice.

I leaned nearer to Ainz and whispered to him:

“Ah Momo, exactly how important would you say it is that we become Adventurers?”

I couldn’t see his face, but it felt like he was staring at me with his glowing red pupils and he whispered back:

“I would say it’s vital because it’s an opportunity to learn vital information. Also…”

“Also, what dude?”

Ainz shuffled for a bit then gave his answer, “… It gives us an excuse to leave the Tomb of Nazarick for a while.”

I rolled my eyes at that answer because it felt like he just wanted to get away from Albedo. But then again, judging him would make me feel like a hypocrite since I wouldn’t mind being away from Shalltear.

“Fair point,” I sighed in defeat, “I’ll do what needs to be done, but I’m not taking a dive alone. Kato with me!”

Kato stood up.

“Okay, time to get down to business,” I whispered back to the group. Minos and Nabe quickly bowed their heads as me and Kato grabbed everyone’s papers and left the table.

“YOU owe me big time for this, Bone Man.” I said with a glare at my armored friend.

I didn’t wait for a reply since I grabbed Kato and quickly stormed up to the counter we had been at before.

Well, more like the woman standing behind it.

“Hello again, may I help you?” She said to me with a genuine smile.

I swallowed my pride and asked, “Excuse me ma’am but can you please help me and my friends with the papers?”

The woman’s smile didn’t falter but she did nod her head.

…

Scene Change: Ainz’s POV:

The ruler of Nazarick stared at the scene, he found his friend’s conversation with the receptionist to be very entertaining. While he didn’t possess Tempest’s enhanced hearing, it was still clear what Tempest and Heretic were doing.

They were playing the part of the embarrassed children, and Tempest must’ve been hating every minute of it.

Although, considering that Tempest was blushing, that part might not have been an act.

With a bright smile, the receptionist moved around the counter and began showing Tempest and Kato what to do, much like a mother would do for her son. She was writing for him as well.

Half of Ainz gave himself a mental high five and felt a mixture of pride and relief at his companion for avoiding making a spectacle due to their illiteracy and filled out the forms that will make them Adventurers.

The other half of Ainz wanted to laugh at the comical scene but restrained himself because his emotion suppression kicked in and he didn’t want to ruin his best friend’s achievement, which clearly took a lot of guts to pull off.

Although Ainz knew Tempest and Heretic were being honest about their age, it wasn’t a surprise that others believed they were lying. They looked to adorable to be adults. While they didn’t look or sound like grown-ups it wasn’t like anyone could prove their ages. Maybe they’ll think that Tempest and Heretic are Halflings, a race that’s similar to humans, but are about half their size. Those creatures were encountered in YGGDRASIL.

Then again, Ainz doubted that Tempest would like being called a Halfling any more than he liked being called a child.

Unfortunately, Ainz wasn’t the only one who noticed the scene.

Around the lich, he could hear people whispering about Tempest and Heretic and hushed laughter coming from around him.

Narberal gritted her teeth at their blatant disrespect while Toro glared at them.

If we could hear them, then Tempest most likely could thanks to his superior hearing.

Ainz could feel his own rage boiling over before his emotion suppression immediately kicked in and turned his fury into a cold simmer.

While he had the urge to punish them, he forced himself to keep quiet. If any of them started a fight, it would render Tempest’s effort a waste of time.

Ainz whispered to my two companions:

“Please calm down the both of you. They’re not worth the effort. And if we cause any trouble then this entire mission will be a failure!”

“But S-sir Momon! These worms deserve to be punished for insulting a Supre-“ Narberal’s rant was cut off by Ainz.

“We shall deal with them at a later date. For now, just calm down.” He chided.

Narberal and Toro relaxed somewhat but they still looked quite displeased.

Eventually, and after signing a couple of more forms, the woman went around the counter and handed Tempest and Heretic five necklaces with copper plates. Tempest and Heretic each gave her a grateful nod, Tempest had a relieved expression, and walked back to our table.

“How’d it go?” The undead spellcaster asked his friend and the NPC.

“It was… informative.” Heretic said stoically.

“Sure, let’s call it that. Bottom line, we got everything sorted out. Here, catch.” Tempest threw a necklace at Ainz and Narberal who caught them in mid-air and took a look at them.

Heretic handed a necklace to Toro, who took it, then sat down next to him.

The necklace was a simple leather cord with a copper plate tied in the middle of it. Ainz saw Tempest put his around his neck then copied him.

Soon, Narberal, Toro, and Heretic put theirs on.

“Anyway, I have to tell you something, but first we need to go, Now.” It sounded like an order from Tempest but Ainz actually liked this behavior from his friend, apparently he was shy. Letting out a soft laugh, Ainz stood up from his seat and gestured at Narberal, Toro, and Heretic to do the same thing.

All of them stood up and followed the Dragonoid outside.

…

Outside the Adventurer’s Guild: Tempest’s POV:

You know what? Coming here was a HUGE mistake because this place SUCKS ASS!

I’ve been here five seconds and I already hate everything about this place.

Whatever. We’re real Adventurers now.

Although, the word ‘Adventurer’ doesn’t mean what I thought it did.

I explained to the group that instead of exploring, Adventurers were more like monster exterminators. Glorified pest control sounds more accurate.

Apparently, most ruling bodies of government don’t take kindly to people outside of their jurisdiction who carry weapons or fling around magic like it’s no one’s business. That stupid ‘Literacy Test’ was more like a contract you needed to sign.

We need to learn a new language so assholes can tell us what we can or can’t do? Politicians ruin everything.

Being able to read a piece of paper does nothing to evaluate a person’s combat prowess, the Adventurer’s Guild was willing to let the illiterate become Adventurers. Plus, in this Medieval era, being able to read was a luxury most people couldn’t afford, depending on where they grew up and what their income was. And so, the receptionists were willing to read something for you in exchange for a few coppers. I managed to persuade the lady not to take any coppers by using my boyish charm.

What a scam. Taking advantage of people with little education makes me sick.

Oh well.

Besides, nations like the Slane Theocracy and the Baharuth Empire didn’t have an Adventurer’s Guild because they don’t need them. They had professional armies strong enough to deal with any monsters on their lands, which says a lot about the Re-Estize Kingdom since they have a lot of Adventurers.

That’s what happens when you only use militia, conscripts, and drafted peasants. These people need a full-time army.

Also, it turns out that me and Narberal have to register with something called the Magician’s Guild since we’re spellcasters. The way I heard, it was a place to study magic and make magic-related equipment. Luckily, due to the close relationship between the two guilds, when me and Narberal registered as adventurers, they also had forms that we had to fill out that would register us with the Magician’s Guild as well.

When I informed Momo about the Magician’s Guild, he showed an interest in it, but he also wanted to concentrate on just one thing at a time. When he asked me if I or Narberal would be working for them, I told him I wasn’t sure. They hadn’t asked us what tier of magic we could use, only what we specialize in, which was combat.

But I told him that I secretly had Demiurge do some digging on the place. Ainz was definitely surprised that I took the initiative and did some research, but I didn’t care and just gave him what Demiurge told me.

The main business of the Magician's Guild is the study of magic. The guild was responsible for conducting all magical research and the production of magical equipment. Because of them, magical equipment and tools are highly sought commodities that only a few could purchase.

Also, adventurers make use of all products and services of the Magician's Guild. Due to their lines of work intersecting, the Adventurer's Guild is closely allied with the Magician's Guild. Moreover, it seems that there is a Magician's Guild in each city. As each guild has its own guild master, the system of command between different guild headquarters is unknown. Nevertheless, they focus on the development of new spells and the training of arcane magic casters. There are also Enchanters in the guild who were essentially specialized magic casters. To be exact, they were the kind that originally affiliated with the Magician’s Guild.

Magic casters under the authority of the Magician's Guild may follow the same rules and regulations of the Adventurer's Guild. However, there is one fundamental rule that the guild possesses and that all new magic casters must be registered into the guild. While the production cost for magic items was abnormally high, one could ignore markups from suppliers and retailers in the Magician's Guild when calculating their price. This is due to the fact that the Magician’s Guild did not collect administrative fees as it was already included in the yearly dues. Henceforth, magic casters could sell directly at no further cost or negotiate directly with their clients. As one sold them through a retailer of magic items, the price would rise increasingly.

Apparently, after some investigation by Demiurge, the Hanzos, and the Eight-Edge Assassin; the Re-Estize Kingdom provides zero funding to the guild, but so far the guild has managed to procure its funds elsewhere through unknown sources and remain operating.

I asked Ainz if this whole thing reeked of foul play. Could the Magician’s Guild be doing dirty business?

Ainz just said they would investigate this claim later and I was fine with that since I’m not interested in doing more homework right now.

I also told Ainz that Heretic had to register with the Thieves’s Guild and the Pharmacist’s Guild.

Who knew guilds existed for those types of people?

I told Ainz that the receptionist lady had informed us of these guilds when Heretic told her he was a thief and a pharmacist as well as a ranger.

The Thieves’s Guild seems rather focused on collecting and gathering intelligence.

Which suits Heretic quite well since he can be very “persuasive” when it comes to getting information out of people.

Heretic explained that being associated with the Thieves’s Guild would provide him with ample opportunity to acquire information on the city and its inhabitants without raising unwanted suspicion. 

And the main business of the Pharmacist’s Guild was managing the distribution and production of potions. For pharmacists, experimentation was a fundamental principle, at least according to the receptionist. This guild appears to administer all trade regarding acquisition and sale of herbs in E-Rantel. The Adventurer's Guild is apparently used as a mediator in negotiating the acquisition of herbs.

Well, maybe Heretic can use this opportunity to make some money on the side and to learn about the native plants and what new potions he can make from them.

After I gave my report, I explained to everyone how the copper plate represented our rank and told them what the progression of rank was:

Copper, being the lowest rank and the one we currently possess since we’re technically rookies.

Iron.

Silver.

Gold.

Platinum.

Mithril.

Orichalcum.

And Adamantite, being the highest rank which few adventurers have obtained.

Why they use Adamantite, a low-tier to middle-tier ore in YGGDRASIL, as their highest rank I’ll never know but it could just be symbolic or some such nonsense.

I told everyone that the rules of the Adventurer’s Guild were basically: don’t accept unsanctioned jobs, don’t use healing magic on anyone and never get involved with politics. An example of the last one is that Adventurers couldn’t be drafted as soldiers to fight in wars or conflicts between countries, like the war between the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Baharuth Empire being a good example.

I was fine with that last one since I hate politics and I’m no government dog. Ainz didn’t have a problem with any of this since healing magic hurts undead like him and my human form is every bit as durable as my Dragonoid form, and Toro’s specialty is defense and if any of our party does get hurt then Heretic can patch them up since he has 10 levels in the [Doctor] job class. Also, we’re not really keen in getting involved in criminal activities just yet, besides we couldn’t care less about the countries and what they do.

However, there was a rule that seriously pissed me off! It was the rule that essentially kept adventurers as glorified pest control.

Any unknown ruins that were discovered by adventurers must be reported back to the Administration of the ruling country through the Adventurer’s Guild. The individual or group that discovered the ruins is given a small amount of time to explore said ruins.

Though, this ‘small amount of time’ didn’t account for travelling. Which means that if the ruins was a week’s worth of travel, the ‘small amount of time’ didn’t matter at all because you wouldn’t even reach the ruins in time.

And that’s not all. If by some weird chance you did explore said ruin and found any priceless treasure, like say an enchanted sword, some magic scrolls, or a mystic suit of armor you would have to turn over said loot to either the Guild or whatever government rules the land that the ruins were found in. Failure to do so is punishable by whatever the person in charge says it is.

Which is probably excruciating torture, life in prison, or death. Well, that’s my guess since these people haven’t heard of human rights laws yet.

Greedy bastards. They just want all the good stuff for themselves. I’m the one doing all the work, where’s my cut? Has no one ever heard of ‘finders, keepers’?

And if that weren’t bad enough, I have to humiliate myself in front of people who essentially amounted to pest control and they have the balls to act like they’re better than me by laughing behind my back?!

They’re all going to pay. I don’t know when, I don’t know how, but I’m going to make them regret looking down on me. I’m not going to let anyone think they can push me around and get away with it.

By this point, I felt a familiar yellow haze come over me and Momonga had to calm me down before I either slaughtered everyone in the room or burned the place down. Most likely both. The puddles of water around us electricity coursing through them. Fortunately, we had retreated to a vacant area after leaving the Adventurer’s Guild so we could chat in private.

Normally, I have control over my [Electric Aura] thanks to my Armor of the Thunderer but because I’m in my human form, the only thing I can do is lower the effects to their bare minimum, which amounted to just surrounding me like a force field. Anyone who touched me would just receive a mild tingling sensation, but they would probably just assume they imagined it.

Momo tried to apologize to me for having to ask the receptionist for help but I didn’t want to hear it. It was my choice to ask the lady for help and tell her that I couldn’t read, nobody forced me.

What I was mad about was the fact that we were lied to.

Adventurers.

What a crock.

Still though, it wasn’t a total waste.

I get to kill monsters and Ainz owed me a favor.

I cashed that favor really quick after we left the Adventurer’s Guild. It wasn’t a big one though.

I just want to call Ainz, ‘Momo’ while we’re in our adventuring personas.

He pointed out that I already call him Momo anyway, but I told him I wanted to call him that in front of other people.

This stunned him into silence.

After some time, he just sighed and agreed but only on the condition that I don’t call him Momo in front of anyone from the Tomb of Nazarick, I accepted this.

If I have to be humiliated then so does Ainz. It’s only fair.

After that was taken care of, me and the group left our little hiding spot and went back into the busy commercial district to find the inn that the receptionist informed me of. We had to go by the signs rather than the worlds since we couldn’t read them.

We really need to do something about the language barrier, PRONTO.

A minute later, we found the sign we were looking for. It had a filled beer mug with an overflowing top.

We made our way to the shoddy three storey inn. Momo scraped his sabatons, I dusted my white robe, Heretic checked his bow, Toro polished his outfit, and Narberal straightened her clothes.

Ainz pushed the saloon-like doors and they swung open, giving all of us a nice look inside the building.

…

Tavern Scene:

What I saw was not pretty. This place was dirty.

The windows were closed and allowed little sunshine indoors. It took less than a second for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. That’s one more advantaged I had over regular people.

This tavern made me furrow my brows.

I had expected this sort of thing, but this place was even filthier than I had imagined.

There were plenty of dirty and disgusting places in YGGDRASIL, of course. Even the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick which Ainz ruled over and I protected contained such places, such as Kyouhukou’s room, the Venomous Cave, and so on.

However, the filth here was different from those places.

The floor was covered in scraps of mysterious food and unknown liquids, while the walls were stained and there were chunks of some moldy substance in the corners of the room...

The inside of the dining room was filled with tables, most of the occupants are men with various types of armor and carrying all sorts of different weapons. Almost all of them had copper to iron plates around their necks, identifying them as Adventurers.

‘Losers,’ I noted with distaste.

Although, I noticed that, besides Narberal, the only female in the room was a woman with untidy red hair and an iron plate who was staring at a potion.

Because of my enhanced senses, different smells invaded my nose. A combination of booze, rotting wood, and mold. I couldn’t resist the urge to scrunch up my face in disdain nor did I even bother to hide it.

‘Does anyone clean this place?’ I mentally complained.

I sighed internally and looked into the tavern.

At the back was a counter backed by shelves stocked with numerous bottles of beer, whiskey, and wine. A man in a dirty apron stood there, his stout arms protruding from his rolled-up sleeves. They were covered in several scars, and I could not tell if they were caused by the claws of wild beasts or by blades of some sort.

He looked somewhere between imposing and bestial, and there were scars on his face as well. His head was shaved completely bald, without a single hair left standing on his scalp.

Next to him was a circular staircase that should lead to the second and third floors, where our group would most likely be staying for the night.

Everyone in the room, except for the red-headed woman, was staring at us like a hungry snake who was about to devour their prey.

“Well, it’s nice to see we’re off to a great start,” I thought sarcastically.

We made our way to the counter where the innkeeper was. This man, who looked more like a bouncer than an innkeeper, sized us up as he held a mop in one hand.

“A room, huh. For how long?” a voice like a broken bell called out to Ainz.

“We wish to stay for one night.”

The innkeeper took a quick look at our necklaces and replied crudely, “...Copper plates, huh. A night is five coppers. The food’s oatmeal and vegetables; meat’s an extra copper. Might be getting days-old bread instead of the oatmeal.”

Sounds like garbage to me.

“If it is at all possible, I would like a double room.”

I thought I could hear the man snorting.

“...In this town, there’s three inns that cater to adventurers, and mine’s the worst of these three… you know why the guild sent you here?”

“Not a clue,” I said while rolling my eyes in displeasure, “But I’m sure you’re going to tell us anyway.”

Without any warning, the innkeeper smacks his hand down on top of the counter, making a loud thud.

“Quiet brat! The adults are talking here!” The innkeeper snarls at me.

Narberal and Toro gritted their teeth at his attitude while Heretic only glared in his usual stoic way. Apparently they don’t like this guy’s attitude toward me.

I think he’s trying to scare me. In which case he’s failed miserably because the Pleiades are scarier than him.

“Wow, I’m impressed,” I told him while clapping my hands sarcastically, “You know how to bang your hand on a counter. I’m betting you work really hard cleaning up this piece of crap you call an in-”

“Cloud,” Ainz stopped me before I could finish that sentence, “I apologize for my friend’s behavior. We’ve been having a really long day.”

“Blah!” The innkeeper spat out, “Keep your brat under control next time. Adventuring is a thankless business. If your son here mouths off to the wrong person, there’ll be consequences for all of you!”

Yeah, this douchebag was getting on my last nerve.

Ainz nodded to the scarred man while he huffs, “...You’ve got some guts, huh… This place is mostly filled with copper and iron plates. There’s no better place to find people at the same level of strength and, if you’re lucky, you can form a party. If the five of you plan on forming a party that’s fine, but you’re here to make connections. Novices with no comrades advertise themselves in places with a lot of people. You need a well-balanced team if you want to survive and I don’t see a healer.” The bartender must’ve guessed that the flashy armored man had more money than brains, and he didn’t think about what he was going to do before galivanting off with his flock.

“Thanks for the tip old man,” I gave him a backhanded compliment, “But our friend Kato over here is a brilliant doctor, so we don’t need a healer as long as he can patch us up.”

“What did I say about that mouth of yours, brat?” The innkeeper demanded.

Ainz gave me a look that said he wanted me to keep quiet. I hated this but I shut my mouth since I realized that antagonizing the innkeeper wouldn’t benefit us. But his attitude was so damn irritating.

“As my friend said, our companion,” Ainz pointed to Heretic, “Is a talented medic. He can provide all the medical assistance we require.”

Faced with Ainz’s answer, the innkeeper furrowed his frown and turned a frightening look upon him.

“Use your brains a little! Or is that flashy helmet of yours empty inside, huh!?”

We remained calm, despite the innkeeper’s annoyed retort. Perhaps Ainz’s ability to weather this childish tantrum was the result of experiencing that battle several days ago.

That battle — as well as the information squeezed out of the prisoners we had taken — had allowed us to understand how powerful he was. Because of that, we could calmly face this shouting.

The innkeeper seemed surprised to see our reaction and then he said:

“So, I’ll ask you one more time: do you want to sleep in the dormitory or in a double room, huh?”

“We appreciate the advice. We’d like double rooms. And we’ll pass on the food.”

The bartender just sighed and wrote us off as dead since we didn’t seem interested in his lesson.

“Cheh, another punk who doesn’t appreciate other’s kindness… or are you trying to say that you’re something else and that full plate isn’t for show and you think that’s enough to carry you and these brats? Ah, forget it, that’ll be seven coppers a night. Upfront, of course. I only have one, so you’ll have to share. If anything breaks in the room, you have to pay for it.” The bartender scooped up the money dropped on the counter, then went back to cleaning the glasses. He ignored our group and the deadly stares from Narberal, Toro, and Heretic as we took the key and walked away.

Gee thanks.

Although, Ainz was right. It has been a long day, at least for me. After going through that whole signing-up process with the Adventurer’s Guild and faking my way through the Literacy Test, I was feeling kinda mentally exhausted.

The innkeeper extended his hand in one smooth motion.

I stepped forward, followed by Ainz, Narberal, Toro, and Heretic. The five of us were bathed in the appraising looks of everyone in the room — when suddenly, someone stuck a foot into my path, as though to prevent me from moving forward.

I halted and turned to the man who had stuck his foot out.

He had an annoying smirk on his face, which was mirrored by everyone else at his table. His entire party had iron plates around their necks. They stared at us.

Neither the innkeeper or the other customers stepped forward to stop this. They were watching silently.

Although everyone seemed to be uninterested in the proceedings, or looking forward to a good show, there were quite a few of them who were intently studying the situation.

Give me a break... These assholes think they can bully us just because we’re new? Time for a reality check.

By now I was so furious that I was worried I’d end up destroying this whole place, but I remembered what happened the last time I lost my temper, so I forced myself to calm down.

This treatment was to be expected since we’re at the bottom of the totem pole as copper plates. It was only natural to look down on the new fish.

Literally in my case.

I sighed, and lightly pushed the foot away from my staff.

The man suddenly stood up, as though he had been waiting just for that. Since he was unarmored, his bulging muscles were clearly visible under his clothes. He had a necklace like I did, but his was an iron plate, which swayed as the man moved.

“Oi, oi, that hurt, kid.”

What a joke.

The moron approached me, speaking in a threatening manner as he did. He had a gauntlet on his hand, which he must have put on while standing up. It creaked as he clenched his fist.

He was clearly taller than me but that didn’t prevent us from glaring at each other with wrathful eyes. It seemed a bit too close for a fistfight.

This idiot looked down on me with that nasty smile, but I just gave him a blank look as if he wasn’t worth my time. Truthfully, I was trying to resist the urge to fry him with a lightning bolt.

I decided to fire the first shot:

“What are you? Some kind of retard?” Like hell I’d let him throw the first punch.

“Huh? What’d ya say to me, brat?” A dangerous look crept into the man’s eyes as my insult sank in. He sneered and leaned closer, his nostrils flared, and he looked like a really ugly warthog.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry. Were those words too complicated for your simple little mind to understand?” I asked him in a tone one would use when talking to a stupid child, “How about this: Why don’t you go back to the garbage pit you crawled out of before someone sticks you in a barn where you belong with other dumb animals?”

The entire tavern was silent.

Ainz put his hand on his helmet and let out a sigh.

The clueless clown’s face twisted into a snarl then he said, “That’s it you little shit stain?”

He raised his fist up in the air to prepare to strike me.

Quicker than anyone expected, I jabbed the butt of my staff into his crotch and he clutched his groin in agony.

I wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easily, so I grabbed the front of his shirt and brought him down.

I was too short to hit him with my knee, so I just gave him a vicious headbutt.

A sickening crunch echoed out as I let go of the man’s shirt and he fell backwards, holding his now blood-soaked face and rolling on the floor in pain, most of his shirt was now colored red by the blood from the unexpected attack.

“Mah, nobe! Ya broke mah fahking nobe!”

His two goons looked at their leader in shock as he tried to hold back the blood from oozing from his nose and they looked back at me.

One of the thugs seemed like he was going to shit himself from fear while the other idiot…

“You little bastard!”

Was as smart as his leader, apparently.

He tried to lunge at me but Ainz swiftly grabbed the man by the neck, and then hoisted his body off the ground.

The man could not even dodge, much less resist the sudden clinch. He went, “Uoh!” in surprise as he was lifted up. He chokes and sputters while trying to free himself from Ainz’s grasp by clawing at Ainz’s gauntlet.

It doesn’t work at all.

“Unless you’re as strong as Gazef Stronoff, don’t even bother. You’ll just hurt yourself.”

The men around him who were watching the show only added to the excitement. How strong was this guy, if he could lift a grown man with one arm? The imaginations of everyone present were now considering that topic.

A wave of surprise and consternation swept the inn. As though to shatter the atmosphere of shock in the air, Ainz raised the man — whose legs were dangling and kicking furiously — and gently tossed him away.

Well, it was gentle for Ainz.

The thrown man flew in a neat trajectory with frightening speed, skimming the ceiling as he went, and fell heavily to the ground.

The sounds of the man’s body striking a nearby table, an object on the table breaking, the planks of the table splitting apart and the man’s own howls of pain blended together and echoed through the tavern. Then, the whole place fell silent, as though startled by the noise. However—

“Ogyaaaa—!”

—A beat later, the woman seated at that table emitted a strange wail. It was a cry of despair that a soul might make as it rose to heaven.

No, it would only be natural to scream like this if a man suddenly fell out of the sky and landed in front of someone. There was another reason here, mixed into the shocked cry.

I paid her no mind.

I looked at the third and final member of the group who was clearly terrified like a corned mouse who was about to get eaten.

“Toro take care of him,” I commanded my NPC but then had an idea, “Unless of course you’re willing to apologize and pay for all the damages that you and your friends caused like that broken table. What do you think?”

I definitely didn’t want to pay for any of this stuff.

The man just gave a trembling nod, “Y-yes, o-of course we’ll pay! M-my friends attacked y-you, so it’s o-only right that we pay the f-full price! I-I’m deeply sorry!”

Now that’s what I call a win.

“Good man. Now, Momo, Nabe, Kato and Minos. Let’s get-”

“Now wait just a minute!” Just as I felt the matter was at an end and turned away, a voice froze me in my tracks.

Turning around, I saw the woman who had made that weird cry just now. She was stomping up to us.

She looked to be in her twenties or younger, and her red hair was messily-cut, yet at a good length for movement. It could not be described as neat by any stretch of the word. To be more precise, it resembled a bird’s nest.

She had a pretty face and a keen edge to her eyes. She did not wear makeup, and her healthy body was tanned brown by the sun. Her arms were muscular, and her palms were covered in calluses from wielding a sword. The word that first came to mind when he saw her was not "woman," but "warrior."

A small iron plate hung around her chest, and it shook mightily with every step she took.

The woman drew closer to Ainz.

It seemed like a wild bull had just seen red and was approaching us.

“See what you’ve done!” She screamed at Ainz.

“What have I done?”

“Hah!? Don’t you even know what you did?”

The woman pointed at the shattered table.

“You threw that guy over and broke my potion, my precious healing potion!” The woman snarled at Ainz and I couldn’t help but sigh, drawing her ire.

“That’s it? It’s just one stupid potion.”

“What—?! Listen kid, don’t think for a second you’re doing a good job pretending not to be a noble!”

Noble? What does she mean by that?

Her gaze sharpened further, and her tone became low and dangerous.

“A potion might not matter to you, but I starved myself to get the money for that! I starved and scrimped and saved to buy that potion today for a big job! And now your bodyguard broke it!” She thrust an accusing finger at Ainz, “I’ve always believed that I could get through a dangerous adventure as long as I had a potion, but now he shattered my hopes and dreams when he threw that punk at my table and smashed it! You people look like you’ve got some nice gear, so you must have some money to pay me back for it!”

Wait a minute? She thinks Ainz is my bodyguard? Where she get that idea from?

As I contemplated what she said I saw Narberal sneak up behind her with an angry sneer and she had her hand on her sheathed sword.

It looked like she was going to kill her. Which we couldn’t have.

“Okay, okay! How about I give you another potion instead?” I said while I held my hands out in front of me and waved. Narberal stopped what she was about to do and retreated.

That’s one crisis averted.

Truthfully, I didn’t care about her problems, but I wanted to shut her up.

And to an extent I could understand how she felt. I know I’d be upset if some prick broke my stuff.

I looked at the buddy of the men that me and Ainz had fought.

“Well, these drunkards wouldn’t have that sort of money to cover a potion.”

“Forget it. I don’t care who pays me back as long as it’s a potion or its equivalent in cash… although, that potion was worth one gold and ten silvers.”

I sighed and reached into the sleeve of my robe. To everyone present, it might seem like a magic trick I just pulled off.

To our party whoever, I’m just hiding my hand to reach into my inventory.

I woman looked at me with a raised brow as I take out a Minor Healing Potion I kept for emergencies.

Heretic made this potion along with countless others.

“Is this good enough?” I asked her.

She looked at the potion bottle in surprise, then reluctantly accepted it.

“...Mm, I guess.”

The woman seemed to have more to say, but I cast aside my doubts. The more important thing was my uneasiness over whether Narberal would do something big and blow their cover.

Narberal still had a combative look in her eyes, even though Ainz had already chided her. Some of them seemed to sense her hostility and felt uneasy.

“Let’s go,” Ainz curtly told us. They went before the innkeeper and Ainz withdrew a single silver piece from his leather purse before placing it on the crudely-made counter.

The innkeeper silently slipped it into his pant pocket and returned Ainz several copper pieces.

“Mm. Here’s six coppers back.”

He placed the copper coins onto Ainz’s gauntleted hand, and then laid a small key on the counter.

“First room on the right once you go up the stairs. You can put your gear into the chests at the foot of the bed. This goes without saying, but don’t barge into people’s rooms without permission. Might lead to trouble if someone gets the wrong idea. Although, it’s a pretty good way to let people know you. You people look like the sort who can handle all kinds of problems. Just don’t give me a problem.”

The innkeeper narrowed his eyes at the man I had injured, who was bleeding on the floor, and the man that Ainz had thrown, who was moaning on the floor.

Everything’s about you isn’t it?

“Understood. Also, I’ll need a basic adventurer’s kit for us. We’ve lost some of our things and the Guild said that you’d prepare one for us if we asked.”

The innkeeper looked at us, and then looked straight at Ainz’s purse.

“Mm, I got it. I’ll get it ready by dinner. Just be ready to pay.”

“Understood. Then, Cloud, Nabe, Kato, and Minos, let’s go.”

Ainz brought us up the old staircase. The wood creaked under our feet as we headed for our room.

…

Adventurers Guild: Patrons POV:

After Ainz’s silhouette vanished up at the second floor, the buddy of the man which Tempest beat up and the man Ainz threw rushed up and began casting curative magic on them. Their actions seemed to be the spark which caused the silent tavern to burst into clamor.

“...It seems he’s as strong as he looks.”

“Yeah, that’s it. His arm strength is unbelievable, how did he train it?”

“He must be pretty confident to carry no weapons besides those two greatswords.”

“And what about that noble kid? He must’ve swung that staff really hard to be able to hurt that guy.”

“Not to mention that headbutt must’ve broken that guy’s nose.”

“Dammit, another group of new guys are going to leap ahead of us as well.”

The scattered conversations were filled with awe, surprise, and fear.

They all knew that Ainz and Tempest weren’t ordinary person.

The first reason for that was his impressive equipment. Full plate armor was hardly cheap, and one would need to have gone on many adventures — in other words, be an experienced adventurer — in order to purchase it. One would need to be at least a silver plate in order to accumulate enough capital for such a feat. However, some people inherited their suits from their predecessors, or found those suits on the battlefield or in ruins.

That was why they wanted to take a measure of his ability.

And that robe and staff looked too unique to be from the market. Must’ve been passed down.

Everyone here was a comrade and a competitor at the same time. They all wanted to know the strength of any newcomers. The circumstances from just now had occurred in the past as well, over and over again.

The truth was, everyone here had experienced this sort of thing in the past. However, none of them had passed the test so easily before. In other words, that pair of copper ranked adventurers...

They would be very strong, either as rivals or allies. Everyone here was fully convinced of that.

“Now, how should we deal with those five?”

“Flirting with that beautiful woman is out of the question…”

“If only we could get them into our party…”

“You must be mistaken, they should be in our party.”

“How strong are those kids?”

“Why was that other kid wearing an eyepatch?”

“Could that dark-skinned guy in the monk robes be as strong as that Zero fellow?”

“What does that guy look like under that helmet?”

“Is that woman the mother of those two children?”

“I’ll go listen on their wall tonight.”

“Didn’t he mention the region’s strongest man, Gazef Stronoff?”

“Could it be that he’s a disciple of the Warrior-Captain?”

“That’s certainly possible. Leave this task to a big-eared thief like me!”

As the crowd eagerly discussed the mysterious team, the innkeeper walked up to one of the adventurers.

She was holding the potion Tempest had given her just now.

“Oi, Brita.”

“Hm? What?”

The woman — Brita — turned her eyes away from staring at the red potion and looked disinterestedly at the innkeeper.

“What kind of potion is that?”

“Who knows?”

“...Oi, oi, you don’t know either? You accepted that brat’s potion as compensation, shouldn’t you know its value?”

“How could I? Besides, I’ve never seen a potion like this before. It’s red for crying out loud. Gramps, you came here because you were curious too, right?”

Brita was right.

“Does it cover the value of your potion that got smashed? This might end up being cheaper than the one you bought.”

“That’s true. It’s definitely a gamble, but one I’m confident of winning. This was something that kid in the expensive robe gave me after he heard the price of my potion.”

“I see…”

“...I’ve never seen a healing potion of this color before. It might be a rare treasure. If I delayed and he said he would pay in cash, I’d be coming back from the dragon’s den with nothing to show for it, right? In any case, I’ll take it for appraisal tomorrow and find out how much it’s worth.”

“Oh, in that case, I’ll cover the appraisal fee for you. In fact, I’ll even recommend a good place for you to visit.”

“You will, gramps?”

Brita furrowed her brows. The innkeeper was a good man, but he was hardly a Good Samaritan either. He must have something in mind.

“Ah, don’t look at me like that. I just want you to tell me the effects of this potion.”

“So, it’s a trade, then?”

“Hey, it’s a good trade, right? Besides, I can recommend a really good herbalist to you through my connections. I’m talking about that Lizzie Bareare.”

Brita’s eyes went wide with surprise.

E-Rantel was a place with many mercenaries and adventurers. It specialized in selling weapons and other items to these people, and among them the trade in potions was quite brisk. Therefore, E-Rantel had more herbalists than a normal city.

Amidst this fierce competition, Lizzie Bareare had earned fame as the best herbalist in the region. She could make the most complex potions of all the herbalists in the city. Since the innkeeper had mentioned her by name, Brita had no way of refusing his offer.

…

Inn Room: Tempest’s POV:

The wooden door behind us closed with a thud. I took a quick look around our room and to nobody’s surprise, it sucked.

The room was bare, apart from a pair of dirty crudely-made bed frames with accompanying chests at the foot of said beds. After opening the window blinds, we could directly feel the sunlight and outside air.

I dragged my feet towards one of the beds and fell on it face first. My head hit the uncomfortably firm pillows. Ainz goes to the bed opposite mine and sits down, his shoulders sagging.

I was somewhat disappointed as he finished his circular sweep of the room. Although we could not expect Nazarick-level furnishings and cleanliness in a godforsaken place like this, I still wanted to get out of here.

“Uuuuuugggggg! I hate this place!” I let out a pitiful moan like a penguin who found itself in a desert.

I turned over and stared at the ceiling.

“I can’t believe that inferior life-form would dare let the Supreme Beings stay in a filthy place like this, Lord Cloud and Lord Momon.”

“Agreed Lady Nabe,” Toro sided with the battle maid as he crossed his arms while leaning on the west wall, “To let the Supreme Ones stay in such an unsightly place is disrespectful.”

“Don’t say that you two. Our aim is to become adventurers, and then increase our fame to the point where everyone knows of us. Until then, it won’t hurt to experience the life of a newbie.”

“Sir Momon is correct,” Heretic interjected, “It is only logical to live amongst the inhabitants of this city in order to better infiltrate it without arousing suspicion.”

Ainz nodded at Heretic, grateful that he understood the situation. Ainz tried to soothe Narberal and Toro after closing the window blinds, without expressing his own dissatisfaction. There was not enough sunlight coming in through the blinds to light up the entire room. Me, Ainz, Kato, and Nabe both possessed Dark Vision, so it was hardly an obstacle to us, but for a normal person, this room would be so dark that they would have trouble seeing.

“Still… the life of an adventurer is pretty banal.” I said.

Adventurers.

Once, I dreamed about that profession.

I envisioned them as people who chased after the unknown and had adventures in various parts of the world. I had previously thought that adventurers were a physical manifestation of the right way to play YGGDRASIL, but after listening to the Guild receptionist, I realized that adventuring was a more realistic and more boring job than I had expected.

Simply put, adventurers were “anti-monster mercenaries.”

Although some parts of it fit my dreams of them — for instance, delving into the ruins of kingdoms destroyed by the Demon Gods two hundred years ago and investigating mysteries in uncharted lands — for the most part, we were simply monster hunters.

I do like killing monsters. So, it’s not all bad.

Every monster possessed different special abilities, so they could only be taken care of by people who knew more tricks than average soldiers.

Just going by that point, one might think that they were heroes who were loved and relied on by the common man, like in games.

However, the reality was somewhat different from that.

This was because the ruling authorities did not smile on the existence of armed groups which they could not control. Therefore, aside from the prices they commanded, adventurers did not have much status.

Another reason why adventurers were not accepted on a national scale was because of the same thinking which made companies look for cheap, local temps than employing expensive permanent staff. Thus, much like how temps were treated by companies who could get by without hiring them, adventurers were held in lower regard in those nations which could eliminate monsters by dint of their own military power.

According to the Guild receptionist, there were no adventurers in the Slane Theocracy, while life had gotten worse for adventurers in the Baharuth Empire after the ascension of their new Emperor.

Poor suckers.

I banished my disappointment from my heart. It was a common thing in life to find that a job which one admired was hardly as glamorous in reality.

My school counselor told me that.

“Hey, Momon?” I looked at Ainz.

“Yes Cloud?”

“This day sucked. A lot.”

Ainz sighed and with a brief wave of his hand, the black armor and the two greatswords on his back melted away into nothingness, and a skeleton bedecked in magic items was revealed.

He wore a pair of black mirror shades and a red targeting sight. The silver circlet on his head was set with amethysts and thorns grew from it, making it look like a rose vine.

Then there were the long-sleeved shirt and slacks, made of a lustrous, gauzy black material. A black belt secured the pants around his waist.

Ainz took off the sturdy gauntlets, and there were rings on all his bony fingers save the left ring finger.

His half-boots were made of a reddish-brown leather, and they were embroidered with gold thread.

A silver necklace with a lion-head pendant hung around his neck, and around it was a red cape.

Magic items in YGGDRASIL were made by infusing an item skin with a data crystal, so it was quite difficult to coordinate their appearance. However, many players disliked wearing a clown suit, so after a certain update, players were given several ways to change their equipment’s appearance without changing their gear.

(TL note: ”clown suit” is the MMO term for a visually mismatched set of equipment only worn for their stat boosts)

The suit of finely articulated black plate armor, made by the 「Create Greater Item」 spell, was one of those ways.

Currently, Ainz was wearing Sure-Hit Glasses, a Crown of Mental Fortitude, Black Widow Spider Clothes, a Black Belt, the Jarngreipr from earlier, a Nemean Lion pendant, Haste Boots, among other items.

In YGGDRASIL, trading in magic items was usually done in the form of data crystals. However, there were people who sold second-hand items in order to make even stronger ones. It was at this point that a problem arose — the names of magic items made by other people might include forbidden language, or it might insult someone. Sometimes, the GMs would ask the players in question to rename the items.

In general, naming items was left to the fancy of the creator.

As a result, items with weird names were not very popular on the market. Although cash items which could rename them were not expensive, very few people wanted to make that expenditure.

Thus, every player racked their brains to give their items good names. Sometimes the names would be in English, or they would come from mythology.

Of course, there were exceptions to this as well.

For instance, naming rings was very troublesome, so most people tended to call them Ring1, Ring2, Ring3 and so on. Ainz had even seen someone who called them Thumb Ring, Index Finger Ring, Middle Finger Ring, and so on.

Ainz and I had a friend called Warrior Takemikazuchi, who wielded two katanas from time to time. He named one of them — the eighth of its line — "Takemikazuchi Mk 8."

The red cape he was wearing had also been named along that line of thought.

Inspired by an anti-hero from American comics, it was called the Necroplasmic Mantle.  
(TL Note: in other words, Spawn’s cape)

All of these were relic class items. They were two tiers lower than Ainz’s main gear, but he had considered that problems might arise from bringing items which were too strong, so he settled for equipment of this level.

Ainz worked his shoulders and savored the sensation of being free from his armor.

“I know it’s been far from ideal. But thanks to the efforts of you and Kato, we managed to become Adventurers and that’s all that matters.”

“And all it costed me was my dignity,” I quipped at Momo.

I took a look at his bony fingers, all but the left ring finger were adorned with different types of rings.

“What, are you saving that finger for Albedo? Can I be the best man at your wedding?” I joked.

Every single one of Ainz’s bones shuddered and he gave me a withering look, “Please don’t start. That fight she had with Shalltear was… frightening, to say the least. I still don’t know what to feel about the both of them.”

“Your telling me. Shalltear practically violated my face before Belle and Albedo stopped her.” I shook my head to clear away all thoughts of the perverted vampiress, “Anyway, we should go over what our plan is now that we’re Adventurers.”

Ainz gave me a nod and I sat up on my bed with my legs crossed.

Just then, Narberal asked a question:

“Speaking of which, how shall we deal with that annoying woman?”

“Please, don’t go there Nabe,” I lightly scolded her,” I want to forget about that woman because I’d prefer not to think about the lousy day we had.”

“Besides, we don’t need to split hairs with her. I’d be angry as well if someone broke something important to me.”

I raised a brow at Ainz. It’s weird to see him sympathize with someone outside from Nazarick.

“...Well, probably. It’s only natural for her to scold me for my carelessness.”

And you keep reminding me not to cause trouble.

“But all that was because a foolish human tried to provoke the Supreme Beings. Those men are the ones who are to blame.”

“Those idiots aren’t even worth the effort of hating,” I snarled.

“Perhaps, but I was the one who threw that man. Therefore, I hope that you will be big hearted and forgive her. What we should be doing in this city is becoming a part of this world, to increase the renown of Momon, Cloud, Kato, Minos, and Nabe. It would reflect badly on us if rumors spread that we could not even pay someone back the value of a single potion.”

“One lousy potion is hardly a big deal,” I pointed out.

Narberal nodded, although she could not quite accept what Ainz had said.

“Also, we should give her some face, since she’s technically our senior in this field.”

Lucky freakin’ her.

Ainz fiddled with the necklace he wore, though he kept his fingers away from the Nemean Lion.

“If it’s just a simple metal plate, then it can be forged… although that should probably be something for the Guild to worry about.” I thought.

That small copper plate was something like a set of dog tags. It was what allowed people to know the strength of an adventurer.

Copper. Iron. Silver. Gold. Platinum. Mithril. Orichalcum. Adamantite.

The latter metals were more valuable, which meant that adventurers of those ranks could select more difficult and more rewarding quests. This was part of the system the Guild had developed to keep adventurers from going to pointless deaths.

We, freshly-registered adventurers, were of the lowest class — copper. That woman was an iron plate. Showing her a basic level of courtesy was the secret of successfully blending into society.

“However, I feel that such soft metals like adamantite are not worthy of the Supreme Beings. Apoitakara, hihiirokane, or other prismatic metals would be more fitting of yourselves. These people in the Guild have no taste at all.”

The metals Narberal had named were of the highest tiers in YGGDRASIL. Ainz turned a sharp look on her, and then said:

“Narberal, just to be safe, call me Momon while we are in this town.”

“And call me Cloud and call Toro Minos and call Heretic Kato,” I informed, “We all need to maintain our cover.”

“Understood, Lord Momon and Lord Cloud!”

“Do you need me to remind you again? Call me Momon.”

“And call me Cloud. People already think I’m some kind of noble playing adventurer. You’ll only make things worse by addressing me as one. We don’t need that kind of attention.”

“My, my deepest apologies, S-sir Momon and S-sir Cloud.”

“...S-sir Momon sounds kind of stupid, don’t you think? Forget it, if it’s hard for you to just call me Momon and him Cloud, then Sir Momon and Sir Cloud will do. Got it?”

“I understand, Momon-san and Cloud-san.”

Once again, Narberal, Toro, and Heretic bowed deeply at the waist. I tapped at my forehead with a finger.

She has no idea why we want them to call us Sir Cloud and Sir Momon. She’s kind of useless… forget it, there’s nobody else we can use for now, so I’ll forgive her.

“As we were saying. This is our plan for the future—” Ainz began to explain.

“Alright.” I nodded.

“Yes!” Narberal shouted.

“Understood.” Toro said.

“I live to serve.” Heretic stated.

Narberal, Toro, and Heretic promptly genuflected before us. It was the attitude of vassals awaiting orders.

An annoyed-looking Ainz had no idea how to proceed. Though he had locked the door after coming in, gossip would swiftly spread if people saw this scene.

“Still… why don’t they understand the reason that I want them to call us Cloud and Momon? Ainz even explained it to them before coming to the inn...” I wondered.

With a tone of vague resignation, Ainz said:

“We are here to go undercover as adventurers in this city. This is because we have to collect information on adventurers and people like Gazef Stronoff — in other words, the strongest people in this world — though our emphasis will be on learning about YGGDRASIL players, like myself and Cloud. Attaining higher ranks will allow us to take higher ranked jobs, which will also allow us to collect more reliable and useful information. Therefore, our first objective is to become successful adventurers and make a name for ourselves by becoming famous. Because of Nigun, we know how strong we are compared to other, so it should be relatively simple to make our names known to all. Also, if our names spread throughout this world…”

“Then we can find other players from YGGDRASIL.” I deduced.

“Precisely Cloud. But we must remain cautious. Most players would no doubt want to join the Slane Theocracy given their hatred of non-humans. And if they do, we might end up fighting them.”

The Slane Theocracy.

While it didn’t take long for Nigun and friends to crack under interrogation, or torture if you prefer, they did tell us everything about their country, the Slane Theocracy.

The Slane Theocracy was a religious nation which venerated the Six Gods, who descended upon the world six hundred years ago. It was a place that advocates the supremacy of Humanity and a place where humans reign supreme through discrimination of non-humans.

In the words of the Sunlight Scripture, the Slane Theocracy fought to allow the weak human race to prosper, grow strong, and defeat other species. Any player with any remaining humanity would approve of the Slane Theocracy’s aims.

Unlike our own world, where humanity stood atop all living creatures, in this world, humanity was one of the weakest species around.

“Besides, we lost several of Nigun’s companions so easily. They had a lot of information, but they perished under such simple questioning.”

There were roughly ten people still alive from the members of the Sunlight Scripture captured at Carne Village. The rest died during questioning and became material for Ainz to summon undead with his skills and for me to summon air creatures.

As I recalled the information tortured out of our captives, Ainz could not help but mutter:

“Most players would want to support the Slane Theocracy alright…” I muttered.

Though they could build such an impressive city upon the plains, the fact that they had to live on the plains only highlighted humanity’s weakness.

That said, plains were also dangerous places. Firstly, there was no place to hide, so it was easy to be discovered by the enemy. Only weak species, who lacked Dark Vision, would choose to live in a place like this. They would have no safe spaces or living room if they chose otherwise.

There were species who were physically stronger and possessed more advanced civilizations than humans, but they were not in control of the continent. This was because they had ended up fighting the Eight Greed Kings, who dominated this land five hundred years ago. Humanity was one of the few survivors of that war. If not, the human race would long since be extinct.

Any players in this world would want to help out humanity. That was why we were on guard against players and kept our distance from the Slane Theocracy.

I was the first and only Demi-Human member of Ainz Ooal Gown when I first joined the guild as a Lizardman but then I became a Dragonoid, a heteromorph.

Heteromorphic beings like myself, Ainz and our friends in the guild were in the minority of YGGDRASIL because of several factors like the fact that certain job classes could only be gained by killing Heteromorphic players and that just made Heteromorphics kill on sight for most players.

Honestly, it got so bad for me I might’ve ended up quitting the game if I hadn’t joined Ainz Ooal Gown.

“True. But Momo-“

“Relax Cloud, that will be a last resort.”

“Okay, thanks man,” I said while giving him a grateful smile.

If any YGGDRASIL players found their way here, then maybe they knew how to get back home. I miss my parents.

“I do my best,” Ainz said with a smug tone, “Now, do all of you understand our mission?”

After the NPCs indicated that they understood, Ainz told them about the things they had to do.

“However, there are several problems at the moment.”

Ainz withdrew his small purse and opened it, then dumped its contents onto his hand. They were coins, and there were very few of them. There was no glint of gold among the coin.

“To begin with, we have no money.”

Sheesh, way to lay it on thick Bone Man.

There were several reasons why I had paid with a potion during the prior dispute. One of them was because I was not confident we could solve this problem with money. Saying that we had no money to pay would be laughable.

Ainz turned to the surprised NPCs, and explained:

“No, I should say that we do have a lot of money, but the currency we have is largely YGGDRASIL gold coins. Therefore, I would like to use those gold coins as a last resort.”

“Why is that sir? Haven’t we already confirmed that YGGDRASIL coins have monetary value?” Heretic asked.

“Indeed, I learned from Carne Village that each YGGDRASIL gold coin is worth two of the local gold coins. However, if we use YGGDRASIL gold coins here, there’s no telling where they’ll end up. If things go bad, the news might spread beyond to others, and it’ll be a blatant advertisement to other YGGDRASIL players that we’re here. Therefore, we have to avoid that situation as long as we do not fully understand the situation.”

“Players… entities on the same level as yourself and Tempest-sama, and the villains who once attacked Nazarick.” Narberal questioned.

I frowned as she referred to me as Tempest-sama, but nobody anything, for the same reasons as just now.

“Indeed. They are people that cannot be taken lightly.”

Ainz Ooal Gown’s level was the highest in YGGDRASIL, level one hundred. However, to players, being maximum level was hardly a rare thing. It could be said that most players were level one hundred.

Ainz considered himself to be among the upper-middle tier of the game’s players. This was because he was focused on taking levels in classes to better roleplay an undead magic caster and neglected raising his own power. However, given the divine class items he possessed, as well as his numerous cash items, he might be ranked in the middle of the top tier. Still, he could not take things easy. There was always a bigger fish, after all.

Thus, he had to avoid being found by other players, at any cost. There were many opponents Ainz could not defeat if he was drawn into battle.

As for myself, I focused mostly on combat, so I could probably hold off a few enemies.

In addition, there were many players who were human, and they would naturally protect other humans. If these players clashed with people like Albedo, who viewed humans as inferior lifeforms, the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick — or Ainz Ooal Gown — might very well count humanity as enemies. That was why we felt bringing Albedo along was dangerous.

“Still, I didn’t expect Narberal to feel the same way as well.” I thought.

Me and Ainz did not view humanity as an enemy, but we could kill human beings with no hesitation for the sake of his goals. Even so, we wanted to avoid conflict with other players.

“Wait a minute, if we’re poor, then why not just sell the swords from the Slane Theocracy? Maybe they’ll fetch us some good coin.”

“I intend to but not yet. We don’t know what the law might be regarding selling weapons like those or if there even are any laws. Besides, I would prefer if we earned some money ourselves by doing jobs.”

Great, more work.

“So, we’re going back to the Guild tomorrow aren’t we?” I asked Ainz who nodded at my question. I groaned in frustration, “We still can’t read remember? And don’t expect me to humiliate myself again.”

“Relax, I’ll take care of it,” Ainz said to my relief and he stands up from his bed, resummoning his full plate and his greatswords, “I’m going to walk around the neighborhood and there is a graveyard I want to examine. Would the four of you mind staying here while I’m gone?”

“But my lord!” Narberal shouted, “You should have an escor-”

“He’ll be fine Nabe,” I interrupted, “He’ll call if he’s in trouble.”

It was obvious that Narberal didn’t feel comfortable leaving one of her masters to wander this strange new world alone, but she did as she was told and bowed, “Understood.”

“Go ahead dude,” I waved at Momo and I lay down on the stiff bed, “We’ll hold down the fort while you’re away and I’ll check in on Albedo and Shalltear as well.”

“Good, besides you Cloud, there is nobody else I could trust to run Nazarick in my absence apart from Albedo.” Ainz said.

“As a battle maid, I shall carry out your orders with all my strength.” Narberal proudly proclaimed.

“It shall be done my lord.” Toro said while bowing.

“The probability of us failing you is 0% my lord. We shall carry out your orders without hesitation.” Heretic told Ainz.

“Is that so. Then, I’ll be counting on all of you,” Ainz said, “I shall return soon but I advise all of you to remain on guard. We’re in enemy territory right now. Fortify our defenses.”

“We’ll do, goodbye.” I waved at him as he walked out.

“The rest of you get some rest. Heretic, you’re on guard duty. Narberal, you’re sleeping in the same bed as me. Toro, you take the other bed.” I ordered them.

They all nodded.

Narberal rested on the bed beside me, she appeared to be blushing, but I paid it no mind as Toro laid in the other bed. Heretic just stood guard by the door in case anyone tried to sneak in and rob us.

I rested my head on the hard pillow and closed my eyes as I listened in on the chatter below me.

It was hard to make out, but I heard most of it clearly.

Someone said something about the headbutt I gave that jerk, maybe I should tone my strength down. Don’t want to draw too much attention to myself.

…

The room belonging to the team from Nazarick: Narberal’s POV:

As Ainz left the room, Narberal sighed deeply.

Then she rubbed the corner of her eyes, and her eyes, previously filled with a keen expression, drooped powerlessly. Her face looked completely relaxed. Even her ponytail seemed to have lost its energy and hung limply down.

However, she still recalled her supreme master’s orders.

Though Narberal was dying to look around outside the room, she was a magic caster and had a lot of trouble replicating the feats of thieves such as Heretic. Therefore, she used the skills she was familiar with to make up the shortfall.

“「Rabbit’s Ear」.”

A pair of adorable bunny ears grew from Narberal’s head as the spell was cast. The quivering ears immediately picked up all the sounds around her.

This was one of the three spells known as “Bunny Magic” to the players of YGGDRASIL. The other two were 「Rabbit’s Foot」, which boosted luck, and 「Bunny Tail」, which reduced monster aggro. Casting all three of these spells at once would change the appearance of a female character’s clothing, and so they were very popular. However, Narberal did not cast the other two because they were not needed.

Most of Narberal’s spells pertained to combat. This was one of the few exceptions.

After listening to the sounds around her, she made sure it was safe before informing Tempest that it was safe to cast the 「Message」 spell.

“S-sir Cloud. I believe it is safe to call Lady Albedo now.”

Tempest rolled his eyes as he thought, when will she learn to stop being so formal?

“Thank you Nabe.” He complimented.

He casted 「Message」.

As he expected, a pleasant female voice spoke within his head.

[Message]『Greetings Lord Tempest, how may I serve you?』

[Message] “Hello Albedo. Can you have Demiurge check up on Shalltear for me?”

[Message]『It will be done milord. Is there anything else I can do to be of service?』

[Message] “Yes, you can lesson to my scheduled report Albedo.”

Tempest was speaking to the Guardian Overseer of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, Albedo.

He described every detail of the situation to Albedo, and finally he mentioned the news that Albedo was dying to hear:

[Message] “Ainz mentioned you, Albedo. He said that, besides me, there was nobody else he could trust apart from you.”

[Message] 『Kufu—!』

A strange cry of delight resounded within Tempest’s head.

[Message]『Good — very good — Lord Tempest, you will forever have my gratitude! Consider this a request from Nazarick’s Guardian Overseer! I apologize for making this selfish request but keep spreading that news for me!』

I wondered, Is this really her plan to win Momo’s heart? Probably shouldn’t put too much thought into it. Might be bad for my mental health.

Just as he was about to express his doubts, he heard Albedo’s excited voice once more.

[Message]『I’ll slowly decrease the distance between myself and Lord Ainz while Shalltear is out on business! Although the objective is hard to breach, as long as I keep up the pressure and gain a beachhead, I’ll be able to bring it down one day! On that glorious day, Shalltear will weep bitter tears of regret!』

Albedo’s cry of delight made Tempest furrow his brows. That excited voice was really starting to annoy him.

With a voice that suggested she might burst into dance at any moment, Albedo continued babbling about what she would do next, and how things had to be, and then suddenly, she asked in a calm voice:

[Message]『Still, why are you helping me Lord Tempest? Why did you choose me and not Shalltear?』

[Message] “To be honest Albedo. I don’t care if either you or Shalltear ends up with Ainz. As long as he’s happy, then I’m happy.”

[Message]『Kufu—! Wonderful. It warms my heart to see that you care for Lord Ainz like I do. I can think of no better Supreme Being to serve as the protector of Nazarick. I’m impressed.』

[Message] “Also, me and Yuri have a hard time dealing with Shalltear.”

[Message]『Oh, Yuri Alpha. I see, so that’s how it is. Are the other Pleiades on my side as well?』

The faces of the assistant leader Yuri Alpha as well as the other Pleiades appeared in Tempest’s mind.

[Message] “Well, I overheard Lupusregina and Narberal say that they’re on your side Albedo, but Solution is on Shalltear’s side. As for Entoma and Shizu, I have no idea who they’re supporting.”

[Message]『Can Solution be won over milord?』

[Message] “That would be very difficult, because her tastes are very similar to Shalltear’s.”

[Message]『Oh, I see… what crude hobbies she has.』

Tempest very much agreed with Albedo’s words. He had no idea why Solution liked what she did, and he could not help but tilt his head in puzzlement.

Most of the residents of Nazarick hate humans with a burning passion but some torment them as a hobby. However, they would kill any humans who got in their way, even if doing so was tedious. That said, they would not go out of their way to kill them.

[Message]『Well, it can’t be helped. Then please bring the other girls into my camp. Start with Entoma and Shizu. I would be eternally grateful for your assistance.』

[Message] “That should work. Solution and Entoma both like eating humans, so if we bring Entoma to your side, Solution might end up becoming an ally as a result.”

[Message]『That’s right… but Lord Tempest, may I ask a question?』

[Message] “Of course.”

[Message]『Can you not simply marry Shalltear yourself milord? She has made it abundantly clear that she is attracted to you.』

Wow. That was a bombshell.

[Message] “Albedo. I don’t know how I feel about Shalltear. And more importantly, it’s too early for me to get married. I’m not ready for it. Can we please stop talking about this now?”

He heard Albedo sigh in disappointment.

[Message]『Understood… I’ve got it. Then, onto something else… can you tell me in detail what my beloved Lord Ainz has been doing?』

[Message] “Sure thing.” He said while rolling his eyes. It sure didn’t take long for her to change her mood.

Love makes people strange.

The scheduled communication with Albedo ended up being very heated — when Albedo heard Narberal and Ainz were sharing a room, she made strange noises and kicked up a fuss — to the point where Tempest had to cast the same spell four times. She calmed down when he explained that he, Toro, and Heretic were also sharing a room with them and he guaranteed that nothing strange would happen between Ainz and Narberal, just to get her to stop her tantrum. Ainz was mildly annoyed when he returned, but that is a story for another time.

…

Bareare's workshop: Brita’s POV:

Sensing something like a color upon the wind, Brita sniffed several times, like a dog.

She was not mistaken — the air contained a greenish scent. This odor came from mysterious drugs and crushed plants. The smell told Brita that she was at her destination.

Brita continued forward, to a place where the smell was stronger than just now. Peering left and right, she walked on until she was in front of the largest house.

This house was different from the others around it, which were designed with a shop area in front and a work area in the back. It seemed to have been built from the ground up as a workshop.

She knew that she had arrived from the sign that hung above the door and outside the place.

The bell mounted on top of the door rang surprisingly loudly as she pushed open the front door.

After she entered, she found herself in something that looked like a guest lounge. There were two facing benches in the middle of the room, cabinets of books on the walls, and ornamental plants in the corners of the room.

As she stepped into the lounge, a voice called out:

“Welcome!”

It was a male voice, though it sounded too young to belong to a man.

Looking around, she saw a teenage boy standing before her, dressed in a beat-up set of old work coveralls that were stained with juices from crushed plants.

His blond hair covered half his face, so it was hard to guess his age, but from his height and his voice, he should be in puberty.

Although he was a teenager, Brita could still guess his name. Apart from the fame of his grandmother, he had become one of the few notable people in E-Rantel by virtue of his innate talents.

“...Nfirea Bareare-san?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

The boy — Nfirea — nodded and asked:

“May I know what business you have here?”

“Ah, yes. Hang on a bit.”

Brita retrieved the folded slip of paper the innkeeper had passed her and gave it to the boy.

Upon receiving the piece of paper, Nfirea opened and read it.

“I see… so that’s what’s going on. Then, can I see the potion?”

Brita took out the potion and handed it to Nfirea, who brought it so close to himself that his hair covered it.

The atmosphere changed.

Nfirea swept his hair away, revealing a handsome face, which would surely break the hearts of many girls.

However, within that youthful face of his was a pair of steely eyes. It was hard to imagine that someone who spoke and acted like he did could have eyes like that. Those eyes sparkled with excitement. Nfirea shook the potion bottle several times and nodded.

“Forgive me, it’s not convenient to speak here. Could you follow me inside?”

Brita agreed, and under Nfirea’s guidance, she soon arrived at a messy room. Still, she thought that way because she lacked professional experience.

On the table were round-bottomed flasks, test tubes, distillation equipment, mortars, funnels, beakers, alcohol lamps, balances, a bizarre-looking pot, and various other items. The shelves on the walls were filled with mysterious herb and mineral samples.

An acrid odor hung in the air. It seemed potentially dangerous to one’s body.

The person who was already within the room stared at the two people who had barged in.

She was a very old woman, and both her face and hands were heavily wrinkled. Her hair, which reached to her eyebrows, was pure white. Her work clothes were stained with even more green residue than Nfirea’s and she smelled heavily of grass.

Nfirea, who had just entered, called out to the old lady:

“Granny!”

“What is it, what is it, I can hear you even if you don’t shout. My ears are sharp, you know.”

Nfirea only had one grandmother, who was renowned as the greatest herbalist in this city, Lizzie Bareare.

“Come take a look at this.”

Lizzie accepted the potion Nfirea offered her. As she studied it, her gaze was so focused and keen that it unsettled Brita. She looked like a grizzled veteran of many battles.

In this, she was not wrong. Herbalists needed to use magic when making their potions and medicines, and the more famous the herbalist, the higher the tier of magic they could use. Therefore, the greatest herbalist of E-Rantel, Lizzie Bareare, was a much better combatant than Brita.

“This potion… did you bring it here? ...A legendary potion? No, could it be… God’s Blood? What on earth is this potion?”

“Eh?”

Brita’s eyes went wide, thinking That’s my line.

“Impossible… this potion. Where did you get it from? A ruin?”

“Eh? Ah, no, that…”

“What a shrinking violet you are. Just give me a straight answer — where did you get it from? Did you steal it? Hm?”

Brita’s shoulders shuddered in surprise. She had done nothing wrong, yet she felt like she was being rebuked.

“...Granny, don’t scare her.”

“...What are you saying, Nfirea? I didn’t scare her at all… right?”

No, you did. Brita wanted to say that, but instead she gulped and simply told Lizzie the full story about the potion:

“Ah, er, someone else gave it to me as payment.”

“...Hah?”

Lizzie’s eyes became even more stern.

“Wait a minute, Granny. Brita-san, could you tell me who gave it to you? And why was it given to you?”

With Nfirea’s help, Brita explained simply that she had received the potion from a mysterious kid in a white wizard robe. As Lizzie heard it, more furrows sprouted on her wrinkled face.

“...Did you know that there are three kinds of potions?”

Without waiting for Brita’s reply, Lizzie continued:

“The first kind are potions made from herbs alone. Those potions act slowly, and all they can do is improve a person’s natural recovery. While they’re not very effective, they’re very cheap. The second kind of potions are made with herbs and magic. These potions take effect faster than the first kind, but they still need some time to work. Most adventurers use these potions to recover after a battle. The final kind of potion is made solely from magic. Essentially, one infuses a spell into an alchemical solution, and it takes instant effect. These potions are functionally the same as a spell, but they are correspondingly more expensive. Then, which of these three kinds does that potion of yours belong too? I can’t see any traces of herbal residue, so it should be a pure-magic potion, but—”

Lizzie pulled out a potion bottle filled with a blue liquid and held it before Brita’s eyes.

“This is a basic healing potion. The colors are different, right? Recovery potions turn blue during their manufacture, but yours is red. In other words, the process by which that potion was made is completely different from the way normal potions are made. In other words, your potion is pretty rare, and for all we know it might end up revolutionizing modern potion creation methods… well, you might not realize it for a while.”

After saying that, Lizzie cast a spell:

“「Appraisal Magic Item」.”

“「Detect Enchant」.”

After casting the two spells on the potion, a look of shock and anger appeared on Lizzie’s face.

“Kuku. Fuahaha!”

—Suddenly, crazed laughter echoed through the narrow room. Lizzie slowly raised her head, a terrifyingly mad smile on her face. Brita was so frightened by the sudden change in Lizzie that not only could she not speak, she could not even move.

“Kukuku! Is that what it is!? Look closely at this potion, Nfirea! This is the perfected form of all potions! It’s right here! We — herbalists, alchemists, everyone in the business of making potions — have studied for so long and accumulated so much experience, but yet we have not been able to achieve this idealized form!”

Lizzie’s cheeks were red from her excitement and she was huffing and puffing. However, she maintained her death grip on the potion bottle as she brought it before Nfirea’s eyes.

“Potions will deteriorate over time, am I right!?”

“Of course, that’s common sense.”

In stark contrast to Lizzie’s excitement, Nfirea was calm. However, Brita could sense hints of anticipation within him.

She had no idea why they were so fired up about this. She keenly felt like she had been swept up into a storm that shook the heavens and the earth. To think she had brought a potion here that could put such an excited look on the face of E-Rantel’s greatest herbalist!

“Pure magic potions are made from alchemical solutions. Those solutions are refined from a mineral base, so it’s only natural that the quality of the solution will degrade over time. That’s why you need to cast the spell 「Preservation」 on it.”

Lizzie paused, and then spoke again.

“At least, until now.”

Brita seemed to understand a little of what Lizzie was saying. She looked at the red solution, her eyes wide with surprise.

“This bottle! This potion! This bottle of potion! It doesn’t deteriorate even without preservative magic! In other words, it’s a perfect potion! Nobody’s done anything like this until today! According to the ancient legends, the original healing potion was made from the blood of the gods.”

Lizzie shook the bottle she was holding, and the bright red liquid swirled within the glass.

“Of course, they’re just legends. It used to be a joke between herbalists that the gods had blue blood.”

After another brief pause, Lizzie looked at the bottle of potion she was holding in her hand. It was trembling in her excitement.

“This potion might well be the true God’s Blood!”

Nfirea kept patting Lizzie’s back as she panted heavily. Brita was struck dumb by surprise. The silence between them was broken by Lizzie:

“...You must have come here to learn about this potion’s effects, right? This potion is around the level of a second-tier healing spell. Not counting the added value from its rarity, it would fetch around eight gold pieces. That said, once you factor that extra value in, the price is enough that people would murder you for it.”

Brita’s body trembled uncontrollably.

To an iron plate adventurer like Brita, the potion’s base value alone was already very high, to say nothing of the added value. Lizzie had a gleaming edge in her eye, and she looked like she was looking for any opportunity to take it from her.

Even so, Brita had her doubts. Why would that kid in the white mage robe give her that potion so easily? What sort of kid was he?

Just as countless doubts appeared in her heart, Lizzie asked:

“How about selling it to me? I’ll give you a good price for it. How about thirty-two gold pieces?”

Brita’s eyes went even wider.

The price Lizzie had just quoted was a staggering sum. Frugally used, it was enough for a family of three to live on for three years.

Brita was confused. She knew the potion was incredibly valuable. Then, was selling it for thirty-two gold pieces the right thing to do? It seemed unlikely that she would ever be able to lay her hands on another potion like this again.

But if she refused, would she make it back alive?

After seeing Brita’s hesitant face, Lizzie shook her head and proposed another deal—

…

Scene Change: E-Rantel Tempest’s POV:

It was the day after me, Ainz, Narberal, Heretic, and Toro signed up as adventurers at the guild that we found ourselves walking toward there.

The weather was bright and sunny.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t enjoy this gorgeous day because sleeping in that cheap, disgusting inn put me in a bad mood.

I let out a yawn, making sure to cover my mouth and stretch my arms out again to unstiffen my body after sleeping in that filthy mattress called a bed.

“Oh God! This reminds me of when I used to wake up at the crack of dawn to get to school. It was barely sunny outside at that time!” I groaned at Momo’s black armored frame that was next to me.

I didn’t want to sleep in that uncomfortable bed anymore, so I reached into my inventory and pulled out a Ring of Sustenance and put it on my left index finger. The effect was immediate as I instantly felt refreshed.

Woah! That felt like quite the rush.

I wasn’t the only one wearing this ring. Narberal and Toro were also wearing one on their right ring fingers.

Smart move. Now they won’t need to eat or sleep for a while. I dread to think how horrible the food in this dump is since it’s a primitive Medieval society.

But there was one thing bothering me.

“Hey, Kato,” I called.

“Yes, sir?” Heretic asked.

“Did you remember to bring your Hidden Blades with you?”

A Hidden Blades was a knife attached to a gauntlet. It was useful for assassinations because it was a concealed weapon.

“Affirmative,” He confirmed by rolling up his sleeves and showing me his two gauntlets.

“That’s enough you two, we’re arriving at our destination,” Ainz said, causing me and Heretic to shut up.

Ainz — also known as the adventurer Momon — opened the doors of the Adventurer’s Guild once more.

The first thing I saw as we entered the room was the counter, where three of the guild’s receptionists greeted us new adventurers with smiles on their faces. There were warriors in full plate armor, nimble fellows in light armor and bearing bows, people in priest’s garb and adorned with all manner of holy symbols, as well as robed arcane magic casters with their staves.

Posers.

On the left was a large door, and on the right was a notice board. There were several pieces of parchment upon it which I had not seen yesterday. Several adventurers were chatting in front of it.

Feeling annoyed by that sight and the many sticking-out pieces of parchment, we moved forward to the counter.

The eyes of everyone present focused on the copper plates around our necks, and I could feel those eyes sizing us up from head to toe. It was just like yesterday at the inn.

I was surveying the adventurers in turn. They wore gold and silver plates on their necklaces, with no copper plates. Feeling vaguely out of place, we advanced to the counter.

A group of adventurers had just departed, freeing up one of the counters. Ainz stepped forward and said:

“Pardon me, but I’m looking for work.”

“Then, please select a piece of parchment from over there and bring it here.”

Dammit.

Ainz nodded in silence. We arrived before the notice boards, looked across all of them, and then nodded.

Yup, I still can’t read any of them.

One of the laws in this world was that spoken language was automatically translated, but written text was not.

The receptionists walked us through everything the last time we came to the Adventurer’s Guild, so I had assumed they would do the same this time too. How naive.

I really want to understand the language so me and Ainz can buy some new books. We have a lot to learn about this world.

While the literacy rate here was not high, it would be shameful if our inability to read was discovered by others. They might even look down on us.

They better not if they know what’s good for them.

The translation item that Ainz possessed was now in the hands of Sebas. During YGGDRASIL he had ignored spells of that sort and had not learned them. After all, he had scrolls, which could substitute for learning those spells.

Ainz had cursed himself for a fool, for coming out without making preparations despite knowing that he could not read the language.

Still, there was no point crying over spilt milk. Regret would not help us here.

Narberal, Toro, and Heretic could not read the words either, so they were of no use.

Negative thoughts rose up in my mind, but as the champion of Nazarick, I could not do anything embarrassing.

Especially in front of the others.

“Momo, this just looks like chicken scratch to me,” I whispered to my armored friend.

He nodded at me in response.

“Relax, I have an idea. Follow my lead.” He whispered back.

This ought to be good.

After gathering his resolve, Ainz ripped off a random piece of parchment, and strode back to the counter while the rest of us followed him.

“We’d like to take this job.” Ainz handed the parchment over to the receptionist who stares at it.

Confusion came over the counter girl’s face as she looked at the parchment before her eyes. Then, she smiled bitterly and replied:

“I’m very sorry, but this job is only for mithril plate adventurers…”

There’s a shocker. It figures Ainz would make a mistake. That’s what you get for gambling so recklessly.

Maybe we can get another job from the boards.

“I know. That’s why I took it.”

Wait, what?

The calm, unwavering tone in Ainz’s voice evoked doubt in the counter girl’s eyes.

“Er, about that…”

“We would like to take this job.”

“Eh? Ah, but, even if you ask, according to the rules…”

Rules. Oh, joy.

“They’re worthless rules. I’m fed up with having to keep proving myself with easy, pathetic jobs like this before my rank-up examinations.”

Now who’s being a child?

“If you fail the job, many people will lose their lives.”

What? Did Ainz pull down some crazy dangerous job from the billboard?

I hope the job is slaying a dragon and not something stupid like fighting ogres. I know we won’t get the job, but it would be nice to kill something big.

The receptionist’s firm voice seemed to encompass the silent opinions of the countless people who had worked hard to qualify themselves by the guild’s rankings.

Well, don’t you have a heart as big as the ocean? Well, here’s a news flash sweetheart, people die every day.

“Hmph.”

Ainz’s snort drew hostility from the counter girl and the surrounding adventurers. I felt that their attitude was only to be expected. After all, we were clueless newcomers who were sneering at the rules by which they abided.

And I thought I had a tendency to piss people off. I just hope we don’t get kicked out of the guild.

As a draconic being, I felt nothing, but the remnants of Donathan Drake’s sensibilities made me want to apologize to everyone around us.

I hated those people who rejected other’s opinions without offering solutions of their own, and crappy customers who knew nothing.

Right now, we were part of the latter group, and I wanted to give him a good punch.

However, we could not back down easily even though I wanted to. It would be a sign of weakness. I had fate that Ainz could still deal with a situation of this level. Therefore, Ainz pulled out his trump card.

“The people behind me are my companions, Cloud and Nabe. They’re magicians of the third tier while Kato is an expert sniper who never misses a shot and Minos is a monk whose skin is stronger than metal.”

All of a sudden, I felt everyone’s gaze fall on us as if we had just done something astounding.

The air shuddered with a collective gasp, and everyone looked at us in surprise. In this world, third tier spells were the highest which most magic casters could reach.

Is he for real? I thought.

The eyes of the surrounding people shifted to Ainz’s stylish full plate armor, dubious of his claim.

In response, I waved my walking stick around to show that, yeah, I’m actually a magic caster.

“…The lady I can believe but a brat like that can really use 3rd tier magic?...”

“…I guess there are two more geniuses here…”

“It might just be his staff though. I’m no expert that’s definitely no average item, that’s for sure..”

“…How can that kid hit anything with an arrow with only one eye?...”

“…I guess the big guy is as tough as he looks, maybe he would be a match for Zero?...”

I couldn’t figure out what was more annoying. The fact that people consider being able to use 3rd tier magic akin to being a ‘genius’ or that they believe my staff is magical.

Adventurers wore equipment which matched their abilities. The stronger they were, the better the gear they outfitted themselves with. Ainz’s armor was very eye-catching and he travelled with a woman like Nabe, two short guys like me and Kato, as well as a giant like Minos, all of us were very persuasive.

“I, personally, am a warrior of comparable strength to Nabe and Cloud. I am very sure that a job like that would be a trivial task for me.”

You wish you were in my league. But hey, it’s nice to have dreams.

The receptionist and the other adventurers were not as surprised in comparison to just now. They seemed to be looking at Ainz with different eyes.

“We did not become adventurers to do jobs for a few pieces of copper. I wish to take on a higher ranked job. If you wish to see our strength, I will be more than glad to show it to you. Therefore, can we take this job?”

The receptionist looked at me with wide eyes and in return I gave her a smug smirk.

“If you want proof of how strong we are, me and Nabe can burn this place to the ground with a little [Lightning].”

Her eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head when I said that, and I heard a couple people sputtering behind me.

I had a feeling that Ainz was puffing up a bit thanks to the reaction everyone gave us.

The hostility towards us was fading rapidly, and there were whispers of, “Indeed, that’s right,” “With a staff like that it makes sense,” and “No wonder.” After all, the rough men called adventurers valued strength, and they understood what Ainz was trying to say.

I was doing my best not to laugh out loud. Ainz seems to be good at bullshitting people, it might work to our advantage if these morons thought our gear was super rare.

However, the counter girl was a different matter.

“...I am very sorry, but we cannot let you take this job due to the rules.”

So much for preferential treatment.

The receptionist lowered her head in apology.

“Then it can’t be helped… it seems I’ve put you in a difficult position, please forgive me,” Ainz replied as he nodded in apology.

It was a good try dude. Now it’s my turn.

“Then, please help us pick the most challenging copper plate job, then. There should be others besides the ones on the noticeboard, right?” I asked.

“Ah, there are, I know. Wait one moment please and I’ll get something for you.”

Ainz gave me a quick thumbs-up for my quick thinking.

The receptionist stood up and walked away from the counter. Just as I was about to cry hypothetical tears of joy at our absolute victory, a man’s voice reached my ears.

“How about helping us with our work, then?”

“What?” 

Ainz had reflexively responded in a low, threatening tone. We all looked over and all we saw was a four-man adventurer team, their silver plates glittering on their necklaces.

I actually snorted at Ainz’s grumbling.

I grumbled internally — After all the effort we put into misdirecting them — and turned to face those people.

“The job in question… it’s a worthwhile assignment… right?” Ainz asked, trying to suppress his impatience.

“Mm — well, I feel it’s worthwhile.”

Yeah, that makes me feel so much better.

The person who responded was a man who looked like the team’s leader. He wore some sort of banded armor — strips of metal woven together with metal threads over a leather or chain backing — and carried himself like a warrior.

Should we join this man’s team and work with them? Of course, we could decide after hearing them out, but then there was no telling if the receptionist girl would help us pick a job after we spoke with them. However, if we took their job, there would be a chance to build relations with them and obtain useful information.

Several seconds of silence passed and Ainz looked down at me.

“Let’s at least listen to them Momo,” I shrug, “Maybe we can make a lot of money from this job and if they say something we don’t like then we can just refuse.”

Ainz slowly nodded and looked back at the man:

“Worthwhile jobs are exactly what we’re looking for. Then, let us work together. However, we would like to ask what sort of job it is.”

After hearing his response, the man gave us a nod and asked the receptionist to prepare a room for us.

It looked like a meeting room, with a wooden table lined with chairs in the middle. The men streamed in and sat down.

“Please have a seat.”

Ainz did as he was told, and I silently took a place beside him while Heretic, Toro, and Narberal stood behind us.

The four men were all quite young, probably under twenty, but there was no childishness in them, and they possessed a maturity which did not match their ages. Although they seemed to have seated themselves randomly around the table, judging by their distance and positioning, they could draw their weapons at any time.

This unconscious display must have been a habit born from countless close encounters with death.

“Before we begin discussing the job, let us introduce ourselves.”

Oh, this guy has manners. How adorable.

The speaker was the man who looked like a warrior.

He had the typical blond hair and blue eyes of the Kingdom, and while there were no other distinguishing features on him, he looked quite handsome.

“I’m the leader of the “Swords of Darkness,” Peter Mauk. That fellow over there is the eyes and ears of our team, the ranger Lukrut Volve.” He said with an easy-going smile.

A leather-armored blond man nodded in acknowledgement, and his brown eyes seemed to have a spark of delight in them. He was slender and long-limbed, kind of like a spider, but his lean torso was wiry and muscular.

“Next is our magic caster and the brains of our group, Ninya, The Spellcaster.”

I blinked, that sounded an awful lot like nina, the Spanish word for girl.

“Pleased to meet you.”

He was probably the youngest person in the group, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. Though he was an adult, the smile on his face looked too youthful.

Unlike the tanned skin of the group’s other members, his skin was pale, and his face was the prettiest of the group’s. It was more of an androgynous beauty than any masculine concept of attractiveness. His voice was higher-pitched than the others, it made me think of Aura.

While the others all wore armor, he wore a leather robe. However, I could see that beneath the table he had various strange items in his belt, including oddly-shaped bottles and peculiar wooden objects and so on.

Judging from the term "spellcaster," he was probably a magic caster of the arcane variety, like Ainz while me and Narberal are Elementalists.

However, the smile on his face was like a mask, though it was not entirely fake. But it was definitely forced when he looked at me, it almost seemed like a sneer in fact.

Narberal seemed to have picked up on his attitude toward me and snarled but it doesn’t seem like anybody noticed.

I don’t what his problem with me was, but I’m sure it won’t be an issue. Though looking at him, I can definitely see why that red-haired woman back at the guild thought I was a noble.

[Create Greater Item] was a spell that allowed Players to have equipment that looked cool and fashionable, but the gear was useless in terms of stats. My robe and Ainz’s armor have the same defensive stats despite his armor being full plate and mine being a silk robe for that very reason.

But everyone else didn’t know that. So, when they saw me, they must’ve assumed that I’m some sort of noble’s son, literally wrapped in silk with these four people as my bodyguards.

Now that makes me laugh. But in a way they’re right since Narberal, Toro, and Heretic are my bodyguards since they seem obsessed with protecting me and Ainz.

“...But Peter, can you not use that embarrassing nickname?”

“Eh? But it’s a good one.”

“You have a nickname?” Ainz asked, with no idea what was going on.

Lukrut explained:

“He’s a talent holder, and a genius magic caster.”

I sincerely doubt he’s at my level or Narberal’s.

“Oh…” Ainz murmured: we had tortured three of the Sunlight Scripture members to death to get that information, and now there was a live example in front of us. It’s no wonder he’s thrilled at the thought of meeting someone like Ninya since he’s a spellcaster himself.

Much like martial arts, talents were abilities that did not exist in YGGDRASIL, but which were unique to this world. About one in every two hundred people was born with a talent. While talent-holders were not rare, the abilities themselves varied greatly in potency and type.

Talents were apparently unique in this world since they didn’t exist in YGGDRASIL. Talents, like their name implies, are certain somewhat mystical inborn talents held by all kinds of individuals.

For instance, there were talents like being able to predict tomorrow’s weather with seventy percent accuracy, the ability to strengthen summoned monsters, a talent for using fire magic, being able to walk 6 steps on water before sinking, casting destructive spells. hastening the harvest by several days, using the magic of the dragons which once ruled this world, and so on.

While there’s no proof that their magical, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are. The reason being is that they can very so wildly from one another that it borders on insanity.

However, all of these were inborn abilities, which could not be chosen or changed. It was quite common to encounter situations where these abilities could not be applied. If someone was born with a talent that could improve the destructive power of their magic, but they never had the chance to become a magic caster, then their talent would be useless.

There were very few people who could make good use of their talents. There were almost no talents which could dictate the course of one’s entire life, apart from a few exceptionally powerful talents..

The best proof of that statement was Gazef Stronoff, who was a warrior without a talent.

However, people with combat-applicable talents tended to go into the adventuring profession. Therefore, talent-holders were a common sight among adventurers. The person before him was one of those lucky few who could fully utilize his talent.

It sounds ridiculous but it’s true. That guy Nigun we captured told us that his special talent allowed him to make the monsters he summoned stronger.

Unlike Ainz however, I had no interest in them. Their just too random and too varied to be of any use to us, but it would be helpful to find out if there are any talents that could be a threat to Nazarick. Maybe a talent for killing undeads or dragons for example?

Now Martial Arts…

Now those I like. I hope Shalltear can find someone that knows at least a few martial arts. Heck, if Peter over here is a warrior like Gazef, I might even have the chance to witness a martial art being used.

However, Narberal did not understand and simply snorted derisively. I heard Ainz sigh in relief after he realized that none of them had heard it. He must’ve been slightly mad because our incompetent subordinate was doing odd things like this during a negotiation but getting into an argument here would not be productive either, so Ainz seemed to have quickly calmed himself down.

“It’s nothing much, it’s just that I happened to have a talent pertaining to that field…”

“Oh…”

Ainz was even more interested, and he leaned forward to listen better.

“I think his talent had something to do with being suited to studying magic, and he only took four years to learn what should have taken eight years. I’m not a magic caster, so I’m not sure how great that is.”

Ainz was a magic caster as well. Those words made him curious and must’ve awoke a collector’s desire within him. This was an ability which the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick did not possess, and which could strengthen the organization. If he could gain control of that ability, it might be worth making enemies of everyone here.

Shrinking the time, it took to learn an ability like this should have been the province of a Super tier spell,「Wish Upon A Star」.

The two of them continued talking, without realizing that we were watching them, like tigers ready to pounce on their prey.

“...I’m really lucky that I was born with this ability, because it allowed me to take a step closer to my dream. Without this power, I would have ended my days as a lowly peasant.”

Ninya’s muttering was gloomy and solemn. As though to sweep away the grim air hanging over the room, Peter continued in a completely different tone:

“Well, no matter what, you’re still a famous talent-holder in this city.”

“Still, there’s people more famous than me.”

“You mean like the leader of Blue Rose?” the guy named Lukrut asked.

“That person’s famous too, but I was talking about someone within this city.”

“You mean, Bareare-shi!?” shouted the last person, who had not yet been introduced yet. We were curious about his name and Ainz asked:

“...And what sort of talent does that person have?”

A look of surprise came over all four of them. It would seem this was common knowledge.

Ainz had asked that question because he was curious and wanted to acquire an ability which could strengthen Nazarick.

However, before Ainz could explain why he had asked, the other side came to a conclusion of their own:

“I see, the reason why we don’t know you at all despite that stylish full plate, your beautiful companion, the big guy, and your two kids-”

Kids? Did this asshole just call me and presumably Heretic kids just because of our height?

“-Is because you guys aren’t from around here, am I right?”

What was your first clue genius?

Ainz nodded.

“Yes,” I nod and finally spoke up, “The truth is, me, Momo, and our friends here only arrived at the kingdom yesterday.”

“Wha? Momo?...” Ninya muttered under his breath and looked at the black-cad warrior that towered over everyone except Toro, who was doubt regretting letting me get my way.

“Indeed, it’s as Cloud says,” Ainz quickly interrupted before anyone could ask anything, “We’ve only been here for a day, so we haven’t had the time to become familiar with this city yet.”

“That makes sense then,” Lukrut nodded, “So you couldn’t know. He’s a famous person in this town, but he’s probably not that famous that distant cities would know about him, huh?”

“Yes, I’ve never heard of him before. If you don’t mind, could you tell us about him?” Ainz enthusiastically asks the blond-haired ranger who nods at us in return.

“His name is Nfirea Bareare, the grandson of a famous herbalist. His talent allows him to use any magic item. Not only can he use scrolls of a different spellcasting system from himself, he can even use items made by the non-human races. Even items restricted to those of royal blood shouldn’t be a problem either.”

At the end of Lukrut’s explanation, my eyes had widened into saucers and I could hear Ainz’s jaw bones practically fall off his skull.

“..Oh.” Ainz said stoically, but I could tell he was impressed by this guy’s talent.

Though Ainz did try his best not to let this group hear the awe in his voice.

I was wrong. Talents are a lot more amazing and interesting than I thought.

How much could his talent do? Could he use the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown — which only the guild master could use — as well as Jörmungandr? World Class Items? Or did it have limits?

Jörmungandr was technically useable by anyone, but it is specifically tailored to me and my Racial and Job Classes. To unleash its full potential, someone would need the same Racial and Job Classes as me and even then, they would most likely either disenchant it for materials or sell it off.

If something like that existed in YGGDRASIL, especially considering the amount of min-maxing that went on in YGGDRASIL, such a thing could be devastating in the right hands.

He was someone to be wary of, but he could be very useful as well.

I informed Ainz:

“We hit the jackpot man,” I muttered under my breath to Ainz.

“Agreed. Coming to this city was an excellent idea.” Ainz whispered back to me.

Narberal and Heretic seemed to feel the same way as us. They brought their mouths close to where Ainz’s ears would be under the helmet and whispered:

“I think that person is dangerous.” Narberal told Ainz and I listened in thinks to my enhanced hearing.

“Narberal’s fears are logical my lord. It is imperative that we locate this ‘Nfirea’ to ensure he is no longer a threat to Nazarick.” Heretic agreed.

“...Calm down you too. We’ll deal with him.”

“Momon-san, is something the matter?” Peter asks.

“Oh, no, it’s fine, don’t worry. Speaking of which, could you tell us about your last friend?”

“Yes. He’s a druid — Dyne Woodwonder. He uses healing spells and magic that controls nature, and he’s well versed in herbal lore. Let him know if there’s anything wrong with your body; he has medicine that’s good for stomach pains.”

“Pleased to meet you!” came the greeting from the burly, barbaric-looking man with a full, bushy beard. However, he seemed younger than how Ainz appeared.

There was a very faint smell of grass from him, which came from the cloth pouch tied to his waist.

“Then, it’s time for us to introduce ourselves. Our two magic casters here are Nabe and Cloud, this is our ranger Kato, and our fighter Minos while I am Momon. Pleased to meet you.” Ainz bows his head slightly.

“Pleased to meet you.” Narberal said blankly.

“Same here,” I told them while bowing my head like Ainz.

I swear I could feel Ninya’s dagger-like stare on me but when I looked up it was gone from his face.

“Greetings,” Heretic stated in his typical emotionless voice.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Toro bowed his head as well.

“Wonderful, I hope we’ll get along,” Peter smiled at us, “Then, all of you can just address me by my first name. Right, while it feels a little wrong to get to business so abruptly, we should probably start discussing the job. As for that, the truth is what we’re asking you guys for doesn’t really qualify as work.”

Sounds great. Work sucks.

“Then what are we going to do?” I asked Peter.

“This job is to hunt the monsters that appear around the town.”

Hold on a minute. What? How is that not work? Isn’t killing monsters our main job as adventurers?

“Clearing out monsters, huh…?” Ainz wondered out loud, “I see, then what sort of monsters will we be exterminating?”

That was enough to count as work. Or was there some special adventurer reason which made him say that it did not qualify? I wanted to ask about that, but if this was common knowledge, asking that question might make us appear clueless, which was bad.

“Ah, we’re not exterminating monsters. After hunting monsters, the city council will pay us a reward based on their strength. What do they call it where you come from, Momon-san?”

So that’s what it is.

I understood. When Peter said that this did not qualify as work, in YGGDRASIL terms, it was more like killing spawned monsters and taking the items they dropped.

It sounded like the YGGDRASIL equivalent of farming mobs for gold and materials.

I hated the sound of it already it. It was basically grunt work for newbies.

Like striking thunder, I felt the feelings of rage and resentment come back in full force from when I signed up and I curled my lip up in distaste.

“We call it pest control,” I stated, not bothering to hide the bitterness and disappointment in my voice when I said every word.

Actually, we called it farming but pest control seemed more accurate.

My tone didn’t go unnoticed by everyone. Peter let out an awkward laugh and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment while Ninya suddenly started to glare daggers at me.

“Ha, ha…You’re not the only one to call it that Cloud,” Peter told me with an uneasy smile and was about to tell me something else until he got interrupted.

“This is how we make our living kid,” Ninya spat at me, his tone filled with anger, “By doing this, we make sure that people like farmers and merchants are in less danger. But I don’t expect someone like you to understan-”

Who the fuck do you think you are, talking t-

Ninya stopped chewing me and I was pulled out of my vitriolic thoughts when Narberal interrupted by shouting, “How dare you speak to Sir Cloud like that, you insignificant worm!”

Wow. That was kinda harsh Narberal. Even for me.

“Okay then!” Peter said while holding his hands in the air in a placating gesture, “Let me apologize for my friend’s behavior, Cloud. But what Ninya said is true, this is a win-win situation for everyone involved along with being important work.

“That’s true. This is something we have to do to make a living,” said the druid — Dyne Woodwonder — in his deep baritone.

Following that, Lukrut spoke up as well.

“For us, it’s making a living, but what we do also reduces the danger to the surrounding people. The traders can come and go in peace and the country can collect its taxes. All in all, it’s a way to earn money without anyone losing out. Nowadays, most countries with guilds do this, but five years ago, this sort of thing was nonexistent. It’s quite surprising.”

Everyone in the team nodded as Lukrut spoke. They began chatting amongst themselves, leaving no openings for us to cut in. Still, it would be odd to know absolutely nothing about this country, so I decided to shut up and listen to what they said. They talked about someone called the ‘Golden Princess’ and a bunch of other things that we know nothing about. Ninya joined in the conversation but only somewhat, looking like a mix of shame and rage.

We just waited there awkwardly and listened in on their conversation, trying to gather as much knowledge as we could. But it was mostly stuff about this ‘Golden Princess’ chick and all the kind of stuff she’s done for the peasantry and adventurers, like waiving taxes for adventurers and cobblestone streets.

Almost of them were shot down though, which surprised me. I have very little clue on how nations and empires are run but wouldn’t it be smarter to improve your home?

“It’s all thanks to the Golden Princess, long may she live.”

“She proposed a policy through that would waive taxes on adventurers, although it never got passed.”

“Oh, to think she paid so much attention to adventurers.”

“Indeed. Some rulers would treat armed organizations who were not loyal to the country as enemies. Even the Empire isn’t so generous.”

“That princess sure is brilliant, coming out with all these great proposals… although almost all of them were shot down.”

“I want to marry a beautiful girl like that~” Lukrut blissfully sighs out and leans back with a grin on his face.

“Then, shouldn’t you work on getting ennobled?”

“Ah—no way, no way, I couldn’t live a stifled life like that. All those uncomfortable suits, decorum and, bleh, manners.” Lukrut stuck his tongue out in disgust at the thought.

“I think being a noble’s not bad. After all, the Kingdom pretty much allows a noble to trample the peasants and do as they please.”

It was hard not to hear the scorn in his voice as he said those words.

Lukrut replied in a jovial tone:

“Uwah~ that tongue of yours is still so vicious. You really hate nobles, don’t you?”

“I know that some nobles are honorable, but my big sister was taken away by that pig. I can’t not hate nobles.”

There was a strong undercurrent of mockery hidden beneath Ninya’s words. It was only a flicker but Ninya’s eyes flicked towards me. But that was all I needed. Narberal looked enraged at his aggressive behavior toward me.

Okay, I’ve had enough of this.

“What? Do you think I’m some kind of noble or something? Is that the reason why you’re being such an ass?” I asked Ninya bluntly.

Lukrut splutters for a minute and Ninya looked at me with wide eyes. Peter cringed and Dyne just stares at me with cool eyes.

Ainz turned his head to look at me but he kept quiet and waited to see what would happen.

“Ah…Well, you see…The thing is…” Peter started to explain something, but I interrupted him.

“What? It’s not like you guys are the first to think that of me. If that is the case then your dead wrong,” I explained to these adventurers, much to their surprise, “I live in a cramped house that me and my parents have to share with two other families.”

All four of these guys looked at me with a mixture of bewilderment and incredulity.

“B-but, your robe and staff,” Ninya’s face started turning red as he pointed at my gear.

Oh.

Right.

Those things.

“I gave them to him as a gift,” Ainz lied to save me, “The robe and staff enhance Cloud’s magic. I found them on one of my many adventures before meeting Cloud and I believed they would be useful to him.”

Ainz statement floored the four adventurers and Ninya’s red face might as well have been glowing. I just shrugged and nodded in agreement with Ainz.

“Yes, and now that we got that out of the way. Can we move on and get back to business?” I asked.

My words seemed to have shaken them out of their revelation.]=

Peter gave a small cough, which drew everyone’s attention him.

“You’re right Cloud, let’s move on.” Peter said.

“...Indeed. We’re getting sidetracked here! We shouldn’t be talking about this sort of thing in front of our new comrades.”

After Dyne tried to get everyone back on track, Peter coughed in an incredibly fake manner before continuing:

“And so, we’ll be searching for monsters in the nearby region. We’re close to a developed region, so the monsters shouldn’t be too strong. Does that displease any of you?”

Peter spread a piece of parchment on the table. It looked to be a map of the surrounding region. The map showed villages, forests, rivers, and so on.

“Basically, we’ll be heading south and looking around this area.”

His finger moved from the center of the parchment to the vicinity of the southern forest.

“We’ll be hunting monsters in the forest bordering the Slane Theocracy. The only creatures who can hit the back line are Goblins with magic items that grant flight.”

“However, we won’t get much for killing such weak monsters.”

Weak is right. But still, I can’t afford to drop my guard. Not to mention I had my doubts about this group’s easygoing attitude.

From what I knew, there were many kinds of named Goblins in YGGDRASIL, and their levels ranged from one to fifty. Since individual Goblins could vary widely in power, one could not lump the Goblins into one big group. A moment’s carelessness could lead to dire consequences.

Did their relaxed attitudes mean that they were confident of not encountering high-level Goblins, or did it mean that this world’s Goblins were simply that weak?

“...What if a powerful Goblin shows up?” Ainz asks the four adventurers.

“While it’s true that powerful Goblins exist, they won’t show up in the forest we’re heading towards, because these Goblins are usually tribal leaders. They won’t mobilize their entire tribes just for us.”

“It’s true. The Goblins know about humanity’s area of influence, so they’re fully aware of the retaliation that’ll be headed that way if they launch a large-scale attack. It’s especially true when it comes to the stronger Goblins, since they tend to be the higher-ranked and more intelligent members of their species.”

“Plus, Nabe-san and Cloud-san can use third tier magic. So, it should be fine even if we encounter high level Goblins, right?”

Damn straight. I hope a strong Goblin shows up though. I could use the target practice.

“I see. However, I’d like to remind all of you that there are Goblins who can use third tier magic. Just for my reference, could you tell me about the monsters we might encounter?”

The Swords of Darkness turned in unison to look at Ninya. Picking up on their thoughts, Ninya began explaining with a teacherly look on his face.

“We’re likely to encounter Goblins and the wolves they raise. As for other monsters, there haven’t been any strong ones sighted around this area. The most dangerous monsters we might encounter on the plains are probably ogres.”

“Wait. So, we won’t be entering the forest?” I ask Ninya who nods.

“Yes, because the forest is very dangerous. We can still deal with things like Jumping Leeches and Giant Beetles, but the Hanging Spiders which spit webs at you from the trees and the Forest Worms which maul you from the ground with their huge jaws are harder to handle.”

No wonder.

I nodded in acknowledgement. So, their aim was to hunt the monsters from the forest which made their way onto the plains. Should be simple enough.

“That’s how it is, Cloud-san. How about it? Do you and your teammates want to lend us a hand?” Peter asked.

Ainz let out a low hum and looked at everyone in our group.

“Cloud? What do you think?”

I just shrugged, “Eh, why not? Besides, we’ve seen far worse than a bunch of Ogres and Goblins with pet wolves. But I’d like to hear about our payment for this before we do anything.”

“Ah, yes, that’s right, the payment is very important. Basically, since your team and our team are working together, the plan is to split it evenly.” Peter informed us.

“Going by the numbers in our teams, it seems that we would be at a disadvantage since we have more members.” Ainz told Peter who gave him an apologetic nod.

“However, when the monsters appear, I hope you and your team will take half of them as well. We can only use spells of up to the second tier. So, when we factor your abilities in, that division of the money seems quite logical.”

“I’m okay with that,” I told Peter, “What do you think Momo?”

“Hmmm…” Ainz let out a low hum and didn’t say anything for a moment before nodding his head in agreement.

“I have no problems with that arrangement. Then, let us fight shoulder to shoulder. Also, since we’re working together, I guess I should let everyone see my true face.”

With that, Momonga removed his helmet. The four people before him seemed quite surprised by what they saw.

Well, his face looks like the way it did when he was still human.

I had asked Ainz to show me what he looked like back in the old world out of simple curiosity. My human form looked similar to what I looked like back home but just much shorter and younger.

Also, in a really strange sort of way, the both of us finally got to meet each other in real life after all these years. I was just as curious about what he looked like when we both played YGGDRASIL together.

Unlike me, Ainz couldn’t change form so he used illusion magic to construct what his face looked like — although it was a low-grade type, which would be seen through if touched.

The Swords of Darkness seemed quite surprised by Ainz’s face especially since they were murmuring amongst themselves. They kept looking between me, Narberal, and Ainz for some reason.

“...Black eyes and hair like Nabe-san and Cloud-san, so he shouldn’t have been born in this area. I’ve heard that in the south, people like Momon-san are commonplace… did you come from that region?”

“Yes. Me and Cloud have come here from a faraway land.”

That’s an understatement.

He’s older than I thought, he’s already an uncle.

Hey, that’s rude.

A warrior on par with magic casters of the third tier should be around that age.

Miss Nabe’s pretty amazing too.

I wonder what sort of talent Cloud must have to master 3rd tier magic at such a young age. He can’t really be 23 though, he’s way too small.

Let me show you small, you stupid mother-

After all the incessant whispers, Ainz put his helmet back on again, “I’ll be covering my face up after showing it to you, if you don’t mind of course. There might be trouble if other people know I’m a foreigner.”

“Since we’ll be hunting together, it would probably be good to get questions out of the way at this point. Do you have anything to ask us?”

“Me!”

A hand shot up toward the ceiling after Ainz asked his question. That hand belonged to Lukrut.

This could end badly.

After making sure that he wasn’t interrupting anyone, Lukrut turned to me and asked:

“Cloud, I have a lot of confidence in my ears, but I just need to make sure what I heard was correct. Did you really call Momon over here, ‘Momo’?”

Seriously? That’s your question?

I wasn’t surprised when Ainz suddenly stiffened up like a statue, “I dou-”

You’re not weaseling your way out of this one man.

“I did call him ‘Momo,’” I interrupt Ainz with no small amount of glee, “It’s just a nickname I came up for him a while back.”

“B-but,” Lukrut could barely contain his laughter, “It’s such a cute nickname…”

“Yeah,” I said while giving an innocent smile, “I think it suits him perfectly.”

Ainz then made it clear that he had had enough.

All of a sudden, I felt a metal gauntlet envelop the top of my head and squeeze.

“I believe you have said enough Cloud,” Ainz grumbled and kept his claw-like grip on my head. I made a pitiful attempt to take his hand off of me, but it was like iron.

Physically, I’m much stronger than Ainz and I could’ve easily pried his hand off my head. And I was tempted to do it.

But I didn’t want to draw anymore unwanted attention.

“Oh wait,” Lukrut stopped chuckling and raised his hand in the air again in an attempt to ask another question.

God. He’s like a big kid.

After making sure that nobody else was asking a question other than himself, Lukrut cheerfully asked Narberal:

“What kind of relationship do you and Momon have!”

The room was filled with silence.

Oh, geez. This can’t be good. I thought.

I could only imagine what Lukrut meant by that question. However, Peter and his people had picked up on Lukrut’s intentions.

“...We are all companions.”

After Ainz’s answer, Lukrut’s next few words threw the room into an uproar.

“That’s wonderful I’ve fallen for you! It’s love at first sight! Please say you’ll go out with me!”

I had to resist the urge to laugh. There’s no way Narberal would ever go out with this guy since she made it clear that she despises humans.

Everyone turned to look at Lukrut. After realizing that Lukrut’s words were not a joke to deepen their friendship, our entire group shifted our gaze to Narberal. As the center of attention, Narberal took a deep breath before replying:

“Silence, inferior lifeform (slug). Learn to watch your tongue before speaking again, or I’ll rip it out of your head and feed it to you.”

The silence was even more deafening than before.

Real subtle Narbie.

“Ah, no…”

Ainz made to lighten the mood, but Lukrut stole a march on him and said, “Thank you for the firm rejection! Then, let’s start as friends!”

What? She insults and threatens him, and he’s still not deterred? Is he a masochist or a complete lunatic?

“Die, inferior lifeform (maggot). You talk to much. How could I possibly be friends with you? Or do you want me to gouge out your eyeballs with a spoon for fun?”

After turning away from the feuding pair, Ainz and Peter bowed to each other in apology.

“...My comrade has made trouble for you.” Peter apologized.

“No, I should be the one apologizing.” Ainz stated embarrassed.

“Sorry about Nabe.” I said.

“We’ll call it quits, then. Is that all right?” Ainz suggested.

Peter looked around before speaking, though he kept his eyes from the grinning Lukrut and the cold-eyed Narberal.

“Then, Mister Momon. If you’re ready, then let’s move out. We’re already prepared.”

After hearing the word “ready,” I suddenly thought of something.

They had already purchased the minimum required gear from the innkeeper. Although our team did not need to waste space on food and drinks, it would be weird if we did not eat or drink anything, so they had some ready just in case.

“All right, once we distribute the rations, we can set out right away.”

“Are rations the only thing you need to prepare? If you’re not going to buy them from a specialist shop, why not get some dry rations from the counter? They’ll prepare them for you right away.”

“Is that so? That’s good to hear. We can finish our preparations right away.”

“Then, let’s go.” I announced.

Everyone rose and left the room.

…

Guild Lobby:

After returning to the guild lobby, there were more adventurers than before, and there were several teams standing near the parchment-covered noticeboard. However, everyone’s attention seemed focused on a certain teenager.

The blond-haired teenager was talking to one of the counter girls, and the other two receptionists were leaning in to eavesdrop on their conversation. If things had been busy when we came in, the current situation was now the exact opposite.

The counter girl’s face — no, her mouth was in an O shape. It was a look of surprise. And the person she was looking at was none other than Ainz himself.

What’s going on here?

Just as doubt started welling up inside me, the counter girl approached and said:

“There is a job here asking for you by name.”

Now there’s a shock.

Those words changed the air in the room instantly. I could feel many curious eyes staring unreservedly at me.

The Swords of Darkness were similarly shocked.

Narberal shifted briefly at the unpleasant change in the room’s atmosphere. This was to make it easier to act during the critical early stages of a battle.

I could not help but feel worried by this.

This is bad, Narberal’s movements are bad. Judging by the way Narberal stood beside me and Ainz, she must have thought that something strange was about to happen and had taken up a defensive posture to protect us. However, it was an action completely unfitting for a situation like this. Normal people would not do such a thing under these circumstances.

Granted, protecting me and Ainz was her top priority, but her movements were far too thoughtless.

You idiot. Albedo’s the same way too. What the hell are the both of you thinking? No… it’s more like they didn’t think at all. They feel like they can crush humans like insects because they look down on them.

While that sort of attitude could not be helped from NPCs of a guild composed of heteromorphic beings (Ainz Ooal Gown), there was a time and place for that sort of thing.

An annoyed me wanted to ask my past comrades, “Why are all your NPCs like this?” I did not care what kind of backstory they had, but they needed to have basic social skills, as well as the ability to take note of the time, place, situation, and respond accordingly.

It’s a good thing I designed my NPCs with some amount of self-control. Lucifer likes humans (as well as all races), Toro doesn’t fight unless provoked, and while Heretic and Belle didn’t care about humans, they’re at least smart enough to avoid trouble.

Unfortunately, I did not have time to scold Narberal now. If someone discovered that Narberal was in battle mode, who knew what sort of trouble they might get into.

I immediately hit Narberal on the head with my staff. Although I did not use my full strength. Narberal looked back at me with tear-filled eyes, a look of surprise and confusion on her face, as though I had grievously wounded her with that strike.

“Stop and think before you act,” I lectured, “We don’t need senseless violence right now.”

“I’m sorry,” Narberal apologized while still having her hands on her head to dull the pain, “It won’t happen again.”

“Good,” I paid her no further heed and asked the counter girl:

“And who is this person who’s asking for me by name?” I calmly asked the receptionist.

There was no need to make a scene until we thought it was necessary.

“That would be Nfirea Bareare-san.”

I just heard that name — as I thought this.

Nfirea Bareare was that famous person or whatever that we were told about and most certainly not a Player from YGGDRASIL.

Still though, what did he want from me? I only heard about him today.

The boy approached me and gave me a polite nod.

“Pleased to meet you. I was the one who put out that job.”

I returned the gesture.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Actually, this request—”

Before the boy could finish speaking, I raised my hand to interrupt:

“Sorry to interrupt, but I can’t accept your job request right now because I’ve already made an agreement with someone else for a job.”

The air in the room seemed to shudder as I said this. The reaction of the Swords of Darkness was more intense than my own:

“Sir Cloud! He asked for you by name!”

Peter’s response filled me with doubt. Was a personal request something to be surprised about? However—

“Yes, but I like to think of myself as a professional. And a professional always completes the job they agreed to do. Me and my team agreed to work with you guys first and it would be unprofessional of us to break our agreement right after making it.”

My decision seemed to have been the right one. Some of the adventurers around me were nodding in approval. An adventurer who doesn’t keep his word might be viewed as unreliable, apparently. Just then, I had a flash of inspiration:

“However,… our job is hardly a request. If we don’t meet any monsters, there won’t be any pay to speak of…”

Peter’s words to me trailed off, and he sounded reluctant to speak them.

I see what he means. Being hired by the boy with the famous grandmother was a far cry from wandering around the place trying to kill monsters to complete a low-level mission. It’s only natural to choose the better, more lucrative option. That was why Peter sounded like he wanted to give up on the job.

Still, it would be a pretty asshole move to just turn my back on them all of a sudden.

“…What do you think Momo?” I asked my best friend.

If he wants us to do the job, then I’ll go along with it. Our main objective is to become rich and famous adventurers in the shortest amount of time possible, so this is a kind of a golden opportunity that came out of nowhere.

Ainz gently said:

“...Hmmm…Then how about this, Peter-san? Bareare-san has not told us about the job’s details, payment, timeframe, and such. We will hear him out and make our decision then.”

“I’m all right with that, of course. Though I’d like to finish it quickly, it can wait a day or two.” Peter said in a tone that conveyed he understood.

“Then, please allow our friends from Swords of Darkness to be present during the job briefing… no, I should say, if the negotiations fall through, we would like the privilege of carrying out my previous task first.” Ainz suggested.

“Good idea. Would you mind if these four come along?” I asked.

“Eh? Momon-san, Cloud-san, is it all right for us to come along?”

“Sure, it’s fine. Me and Momo would like to hear your opinions before anything happens.” I elaborated.

“It’s really no problem at all. We hope you will be party to the discussion and provide your input.” Ainz said.

After the Swords of Darkness gave their approval, me and company returned to the room from just now.

I felt very busy.

Once more, I smiled bitterly and took my seat from just now. Ainz sat beside me and the rest of our party stood behind us, while the boy was one seat away from us. The Swords of Darkness went back to their previous places.

The first to speak among them was, of course, the boy:

“The receptionist mentioned it earlier, but I think it would be best if I introduced myself. I am Nfirea Bareare, and I work as an herbalist in this city. As for the details of the job, I will soon be heading into the nearby forest as planned. Since everyone knows the forest is dangerous, I was hoping that you could be my guardians, as well as help in harvesting herbs if possible.”

Bodyguarding? Sounds simple enough. And it’s probably more profitable than just farming some weak monsters. Not sure about the herbs thought but I think we can handle picking up some flowers or whatever. I bet Heretic will enjoy looking for new potion ingredients.

“Bodyguarding, huh. I see.”

I nodded calmly. While I wasn’t too worried I couldn’t help but get the feeling that this job could be a troublesome one.

I know I’m powerful, and I could probably exterminate any attacking monster when working with my team. However, I was not as confident when it came to carrying out an escort mission. This was because Ainz and Narberal were both magic casters, and lacked the specialized magic and skills needed to become shields for other people.

“Compared to the usual amount, the payment will be—”

“—Please hold on a moment,” Ainz interrupts Nfirea and looks at Peter and his team, “Peter, it appears this task of bodyguarding suits you well. Then, Peter-san, would you like to join us?”

“Eh? A-Are you sure, Momon?” Peter asked, his face looked like it was full of shock. His eyes darted towards me, but I just shrugged indifferently.

I didn’t really mind taking these four guys with us. Sure, we’ll get less money but if we encounter any monsters along the way, we can kill them to earn some extra coin.

“If it’s a job that involves bodyguarding and harvesting herbs, don’t you think we’d be more effective with Lukrut-san the ranger and Dyne-san the druid?”

“Oh! Good eye, Momon-shi. As a druid, I can show my true ability in the forest, perhaps even more so than Lukrut the ranger.” Dyne’s baritone seemed to carry an undercurrent of pride.

Lukrut was not happy as he showed it by narrowing his eyes and giving a brittle smile. He said:

“Dyne-san, you really went and said it, huh.”

“It’s an undeniable truth, given the abilities of druids! And don’t forget that I’m trained in herbalism too!” Dyne’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

“Hmph — Peter, I’m fine too. I’ll show you who’s the better of us, between Druid-san and myself.”

Ah, competition is always a good motivation.

“I’ll take that to be agreement, then. If we see any monsters on the way, we’ll kill them and claim the reward when we get back to town. As for Bareare-san’s payment, what if we divided it equally, Peter-san?” Ainz told him his idea.

“If both of you are fine with it, then I have no objections, Momon-san.”

“Bareare-san, sorry for the wait. If it’s all right with you, could you permit everyone here to accept the job that you just offered?” Ainz asked.

“I don’t mind that. Then, I’ll be counting on all of you. Ah, you can just call me Nfirea.” Nfirea smiled at everyone.

All of us began introducing ourselves to Nfirea. Although Narberal lashed Lukrut with her sharp tongue, they managed to successfully complete their self-introductions.

“Then, what I’ve done in the past is to proceed to Carne Village to set up a base of operations before venturing into the forest. The amount of time we’ll spend depends on the herbs that we can gather, but it will be three days at the latest. In the past, it’s been a couple of days on average.”

“Will we be walking there?”

“Ah, yes. There will be a horse cart, but it’ll be full of pots and bottles for gathering herbs, so there’s not much room for you to ride.”

“Can we replenish our rations in Carne Village?”

“Water should be fine, but food might be a problem, because Carne Village isn’t very big.”

As if I needed any of that. Everything I needed was in my inventory. Like Ainz, I had a Pitcher of Endless Water item in my inventory.

The Swords of Darkness began discussing the preparations for the journey, as well as asking Nfirea several questions.

Ainz spoke up as well:

“May I ask a few questions?”

After seeing Nfirea smile and nod in reply, Ainz began with the first question.

“Why Cloud?” Ainz asks something which I really should’ve paid attention to, “We’ve only arrived in this city by carriage recently, and as such we have no friends here, nor are we renowned in this area. That being the case, why did you ask for him? In addition, you mentioned that you’ve done this in the past, which implies that in the past you’ve hired other adventurers. How about asking them instead?”

I managed to see Ainz’s two red glowing eyes glare at Nfirea.

This kid better have a good reason or things are about to get ugly.

I did not know why the boy had called me out. If we had been exposed, then we would need to change our disguises and our approach to things.

I studied Nfirea closely — though I could not see his eyes, due to the hair concealing them — but I could not tell what the boy truly wanted.

Could it be that we were overthinking this? Just as I was beginning to get suspicious, Nfirea replied:

“Ah, the adventurers I hired in the past have all left E-Rantel for another city. That’s why I was looking for new adventurers. Also, actually… I heard about what happened in the inn from one of its guests.”

What inci-? Oh that.

“What happened in the inn?” Ninya asked curiously. Before I or Ainz could interrupt, Nfirea smiles and tells everybody.

“Yes, I heard that a copper-plate effortlessly threw an iron-plate adventurer, someone who is one rank higher than himself...”

“I see…” Ainz mumbled.

The Swords of Darkness looked at Ainz, who had gone silent, with impressed expressions but Nfirea kept talking, much to my embarrassment.

“And how his young companion broke an iron plate’s nose with a headbutt.”

“Wait, what?” Lukrut turned his head to look at me. It wasn’t just him, all four members of the Swords of Darkness turned to stare at me in astonishment.

God! It’s not like I did anything wrong.

“That prick started that fight,” I informed them so they wouldn’t get the wrong idea.

“Th-that isn’t the issue…How could you even hit tha-!” Lukrut started to say something before something ‘thumped’ under the table stopped him. Lukrut let out a hiss of pain and glared at Ninya besides him who was smiling like an innocent child.

I raised a brow at their antics, but I let it go. Might not be important anyway.

Ainz had planned to use a show of strength to increase his renown. Had this boy taken the bait? Once more, as suspicion welled up in Ainz

Nfirea smiled and pointed to the plate on my neck.

“Plus, copper-ranked adventurers are cheaper, right? Hopefully we’ll get along for a while yet.”

“Haha, good thinking. I also hope we get along.” I laughed.

I understood how it was like to hire expensive services.

As I thought about this, the other were asking questions one by one, which Nfirea took in stride. After there were no more questions, Nfirea announced:

“Then, let’s move out once we’re ready!”

…

E-Rantel Cemetery: Clementine’s POV:

In the dead of night, a hooded person entered the giant graveyard of E-Rantel, with steps that made it seem as though it were gliding across the ground.

The person’s hooded, jet-black cape and the way its waist and shoulders did not move up and down as it advanced was quite peculiar, resembling a ghost when viewed from afar.

The figure deftly avoided the magical illumination of the tomb and proceeded ever inward.

Before long, the figure arrived at a mausoleum, and shed its hood.

The figure was a young woman of around twenty, in the flower of her youth.

She had a pretty face, and she was cute in the way of a kitten or other small animal. Still, while she looked adorable, there was a carnivore’s predatory nature hidden under that face of hers.

“I’m here~”

As she spoke in playful tones, the girl ran her fingers through her short blonde hair and pushed open the stone doors to the mausoleum. The noises of clattering metal came from under her cloak, like the sound of chain mail.

Once inside the mausoleum, all the slabs for corpses were empty. The grave goods for the deceased had already been taken away.

Perhaps it was the scent of all the incense absorbed by the stone, but a fragrant smell tickled the girl’s nose.

The girl furrowed her brows, then headed steadily inwards.

“Hm hm hm — hm~”

The girl pressed on an unobtrusive little carving as she hummed. As the carving moved, there was a click as something made contact with something else. A moment later, the sound of grinding came forth. The slabs slowly moved aside, and a path leading downstairs appeared.

“I’m coming in~”

With those sing-song words, the girl descended the staircase. It curved halfway and led to a wide-open space beneath the earth.

Although the walls and floor were made of mud, they looked like they had been reinforced so they would not collapse so easily. The air was relatively clean; the airflow to this place was good, which kept the air in here fresh.

However, this was not part of the graveyard; it was something far more malevolent in nature.

Menacing tapestries hung on the walls, with several crimson candles made from fresh blood below it. They gave off a pale radiance, as well as a smell of burning blood.

The flickering flames generated countless shadows, and there were several holes here, big enough for people to pass through. The unique corpse stench of low tier undead wafted out from those holes.

The girl looked around, and her eyes stopped on a certain place.

“Ah~ creepy guy who’s hiding in a corner, you’ve got a guest~”

The man watching his surroundings from his hiding place in the dark corners of the room heard those words, and his shoulders trembled.

“Hi~ I’m here to meet Khazi-chan who’s supposed to be here, is he~?”

The man seemed a little lost as to what to do, and as he heard the sound of footsteps again, his shoulders shook once more.

“It’s fine. You may leave now.”

After the newcomer spoke to the man, he revealed himself.

He was a skinny man.

His eyes were sunken in, and his face was a corpse-like pale white, which could be summarized in the word “lifeless.” His scalp was bereft of any hair, nor were there any eyebrows, eyelashes, or any body hair at all. He gave the impression that he was completely hairless.

Given that, there was no way to tell his age at all, but since there were no wrinkles on his skin, he probably was not that old.

The man was dressed in a dark red robe that was the color of dried blood, and wore a necklace made of the skulls of small animals. His hands were so shriveled that they resembled claws, and his fingers — tipped with dirty yellow fingernails — were wrapped around a black staff. Rather than a human, he looked more like an undead monster.

“Hai~ Khazi-chan~”

The man frowned as he heard the girl’s playful greeting.

“Can you not address me like that? It’ll damage the reputation of Zuranon.”

Zuranon.

They were a powerful and evil secret society, counting several veteran magic casters among their number and led by a wise leader. After orchestrating several tragedies, they had become enemies of the countries in the region.

“Reeeeally…?”

The fact that the girl did not wish to change the way she addressed him made the man frown even more.

“...And then? Why did you come here? You know I’m infusing energy into the Orb of Death, right? If you’re here to make trouble, I have ways to deal with that too.”

The man narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his staff.

“Nooooo, Khazi-chan~ I just came here to bring you this~”

The girl flashed him a coquettish smile and reached around under her cape. There was the sound of clattering, and then the girl triumphantly produced the item she had been looking for.

It was a circlet.

Countless small gems adorned thin, metallic threads, looking for all the world like a spiderweb covered in water droplets. The item was exquisitely made, and in the middle of the circlet — where the wearer’s forehead would go — was a large black crystal.

“This is—!”

The man could not help but stare in silence.

Although he had only seen it from a distance, there was no mistake here. This was the crown he had seen once before.

“The symbol of a Miko Princess, the Crown of Wisdom! This is one of the treasures of the Slane Theocracy!”

“Correct~ I saw a cute girl wearing this strange crown, but it looked so wrong on her head that I took it off~ And then I was sooooo surprised! She went mad~ peeing and crapping herself~”

The girl convulsed in laughter.

The Miko Princesses stood at the heart of the Slane Theocracy’s rituals. There was no way that she — as a former member of the Black Scripture — would not know what would happen when she snatched the Crown of Wisdom away from its bearer.

After all, when the time came for a new Miko Princess to be appointed, the job of the Black Scripture was to remove the Crown from its current wearer, and then promptly send the now-insane Miko Princess to be with the gods.

“Still, it can’t be helped. It’s the only way to obtain this — it’s the fault of the person who made the Crown, he’s the one to blame~”

There was no way to safely remove the Crown of Wisdom. The only option was to destroy it.

However, the Crown would delete the wearer’s personality and turn a human being into a magic item that could use incredibly high-tiered spells, so nobody would do anything wasteful like destroying it.

Still, there were such madmen around.

“Hmph, to think you’d betray the Black Scripture for such trash. Why not steal one of the divine artifacts of the Six Gods?”

“Calling it trash is too mean~”

The man laughed at the girl who puffed up her face.

“Nothing wrong with calling it trash, right? Girls who can wear an item like this are one in a million. Finding a wearer for this would probably be impossible, even in the Slane Theocracy.”

The Slane Theocracy was the only one in the surrounding countries that kept detailed registers and genealogies of its citizens. Therefore, by consulting those registers, one could easily find a wearer for the item — in other words, a sacrifice.

Without that, it would be hard for even Zuranon to find such a person.

“But really now, it’s impossible to get those artifacts~ After all, that antique show is guarded by the strongest monster of the Black Scripture, that ancient beast with the blood of the Six Gods that’s beyond the realm of humanity~”

“A God-Kin, huh… Is that fellow really that strong? I’ve only heard about it from you.”

“It’s stronger than the idea of strength. The relevant information has been sealed up, which is why you don’t know~ If someone who knew about it was interrogated with mind-affecting magic, it would be really bad. I’ve heard that if the secret got out, it’d lead to total war with the surviving true Dragon Lords, which means the Slane Theocracy would get destroyed in the crossfire, so I hope you’ll pretend you never heard any of it~”

“...I find that hard to believe.”

“Well, anyone who hasn’t seen that power would think so~ Well then, let’s get down to business, Khajiit Dale Badantel — are you willing to help me out as a fellow member of the Twelve Executives?”

The girl’s tone finally changed.

“Oh, showing your true face at last, oh fragment of Quintia? But don’t call me Dale. I’ve cast away that baptismal name.”

“...Then, don’t call me a fragment of Quintia, hm? Call me Clementine.”

“...Clementine, what do you want me to help you with?”

“There’s a pretty outstanding talent holder in this town, no? Maybe that guy could wear this item~”

“...I see, that guy from the stories. Still, you could easily handle the task of kidnapping a single human being by yourself, no?”

“Mm, that’s right~ But I’d like some sort of confusion while I make my move~”

“I see… a distraction while you flee, huh…”

“What about it? What if I was willing to help with your ritual? It’s a good deal, right~?”

The man — Khajiit — narrowed his eyes, and smiled evilly:

“Wonderful, Clementine. If you’re willing to help me, I can carry out the rite of death. Very well, I shall aid you with all the resources at my disposal.”


	6. Biography of Tempest and His 4 NPCs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn't part of the story, this is a background on the abilities and past of Tempest and his four personal NPCs: Lucifer Shadows, Belle von Bane, Heretic, and Toro (from oldest NPC to youngest).
> 
> Along with some TV Tropes to give my readers a better understanding of them.
> 
> This isn't chapter 6, it's just a bonus chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a huge Overlord fan!
> 
> I can't wait for the "Overlord: Mass for the Dead" mobile game to hit America!

Bonus Chapter: TV Tropes Associated with my Avatar Tempest and my 4 NPCs/Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Lucifer Shadows, Belle von Bane, Heretic, and Toro):  
100% Adoration Rating: Tempest's personal NPCs and his NPC allies practically worship him... largely because they were initially programmed to be loyal, but they genuinely see him as a great fighter and loyal protector of Nazarick, and don't just praise him because they're forced to. He finds their faith challenging to live up to but is flattered, nonetheless.  
A God I Am Not: While never referred to as a god by anyone directly, Tempest knows his subordinates in Nazerick worship him and Ainz and see them as gods. This makes him very uncomfortable even after he had gotten used to the idea of being Ainz’s champion and world domination.  
A Load of Bull: Toro is a massive Big Red Devil Minotaur in his true form.  
A Million is a Statistic: Neither Belle nor Heretic care how many deaths they cause so long as they accomplish their goals.  
-Belle: “You were going to die no matter what happened. All I did was accelerate the inevitable.”  
Above the Gods: The Nazarick NPCs think of the Supreme Beings as this, seeing them as vastly superior to so-called Gods like the Slane Theocracy’s Six Great Gods and the Demon Gods/Evil Deities.  
Above Good and Evil: Tempest’s dragon instincts cause him to become more ruthless and he doesn’t care what anyone thinks of his actions. This also applies to Belle and Heretic because they care more for results than morality.  
-Tempest: “Why are you spewing garbage from your mouth? I don't waste my time with petty labels such as 'good' and 'evil’ because they’re a human invention. Who are they to tell me what’s right and wrong? I see no reason to value morals that they frequently disregard. Who makes the rules in society, the “good and the just?” No! Those with power make up all the rules.”  
-Belle: “Good and evil are meaningless words used to describe lesser beings. All that matters is the will of the Supreme Beings.”  
-Heretic: “Evil is subjective. Science is absolute. That is what makes it so appealing.”  
Absurdly Sharp Blade:  
-Toro can cut objects and severe body parts with his bare hands!  
-Tempest’s giant greatsword, Jörmungandr, can cut humans and ogres in half with just one swing. Partly thanks to Tempest’s monstrous strength.  
The Ace: Belle von Bane is this to her siblings. She is highly intelligent, possesses numerous skills, and can use the abilities of her siblings by turning into them.  
Action Girl: Both Lucifer and Belle can take out groups of opponents by themselves.  
Affably Evil: Toro is very respectful towards both comrades and enemies that have earned his respect.  
All According to Plan: When it looks like Belle's losing, she's actually still winning.  
Alliterative Name: Tempest was called Donny Drake in his old life.  
Almighty Janitor: The Floor Guardians outrank Tempest’s NPCs but they’re at the level cap just like the Floor Guardians.  
Always Accurate Attack: Heretic has job classes dedicated to this since he is the marksmen and sniper of the group.  
An Axe to Grind: Toro sports a wicked-looking battle-axe.  
Anti-Villain: Lucifer Shadows, Heretic, Toro, and Tempest aren’t malicious, but they still proudly serve an Obviously Evil Overlord. Subverted with Belle who is genuinely evil.  
Archer Archetype: Heretic fits the intellectual aspects and is a composed fighter but like his sister Belle he has no empathy for his victims.  
Assassin Outclassin': Heretic easily makes mincemeat of the hired goons Eight Fingers employs.  
Asskicking Equals Authority: Since Demi-Humans value strong leaders, they quickly start to worship Tempest as a God-Emperor after their conscription even though they never worshiped gods before.  
Aura Vision: Belle has a spell or ability that allows her to see her opponent's remaining MP as an aura form.  
Authority Equals Asskicking: Belle is the leader of her siblings and the most dangerous of them.  
Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Although Belle, Heretic, and Toro have no problem making it clear that they find Lucifer annoying, the siblings do seem to get along really well, and despite the fact that they bicker like ordinary siblings, they still appear to look out for one another.  
Bad Powers, Good People: Donny is a genuinely good person, but his dragon-instincts make him a violent mass murdering Darwinist.  
Badass Baritone: Tempest has a deep, guttural voice when he’s in his Dragonoid form.  
Badass Boast: As the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Tempest’s NPCs are quite fond of delivering these:  
-Death/Lucifer Shadows: “Fools! You have no comprehension of who it is you now face. I am the one who cleanses the weak and the frail from the world in my Lord Tempest’s name. I am the one who takes away the life they were not worthy of. I am DEATH! Challenge me and be embraced in my touch of eternal darkness. Leave and you may yet live to see the paradise my Master will bring!”  
-Death/Lucifer Shadows: “Let them be purified with fire and blood!”  
-Death/Lucifer Shadows: “I offer the purity of oblivion.”  
-War/Toro: “You are all nothing more than pathetic children, locked in the past, unable to move forward, unable to change, unable to evolve. That is why you will fall, for evolution is upon us and those who cannot adapt will perish. Only the strong shall survive! I am that which strips away the façade of civilization to reveal the truth of the real person beneath. I am that which delivers the only true justice. The strong survive and get stronger and the weak perish as they deserve to. I am WAR!”  
-War/Toro: “War shall be their destruction!”  
-War/Toro: “Feel the horror of war!”  
-Pestilence/Belle von Bane: “Today is the day my Master, the Great Tempest has decreed his plans come to pass. I am that which literally plagues mankind. I am disease and decay. I am PESTILENCE!”  
-Pestilence/Belle von Bane: “No one can save you from the touch of pestilence!”  
-Pestilence/Belle von Bane: “The old world passes away. Together, we shall forge a new one in fire and blood! The future is transformed. I am one of the instruments to purify the world of the weak and corrupt. The evil of human and demi-human must be cut away. We shall tear down the old order. Those who oppose us shall perish through the master’s agents of destruction.”  
-Famine/Heretic: “I am that which steals the food from the mouth of mankind, who causes crops to wither and die, who fills the land and seas with nothing, but the death and blood of that which mankind feeds on. I am FAMINE!”  
-Famine/Heretic: “Weak and foolish humans! You dare defy the master? You shall pay for your hubris RIGHT NOW!”  
-Famine/Heretic: “From the ashes of this world, we will build a better one.”  
Badass in Charge: Tempest’s NPCs see them as their master, and he can wipe out an army with a single spell.  
Badass Family: While not a traditional family, they won’t hesitate to help and protect each other.  
Badass in a Nice Suit: Toro wears a business suit in his human form and the Guardians specifically note that he's one of the strongest of Nazarick's defenders.  
Baleful Polymorph: Heretic has created potions that can change a being’s species. Heretic used blood from Lucifer Shadows to make potions that can turn people into angels like her. He has potions that can turn people into angels, beastmen, dragons, harpies, etc.  
Bare-Fisted Monk: Toro rarely uses any weapons to fight.  
Battle Aura: Toro is able to project a dark aura that inflicts crippling fear on those who have a weak will. He mentions that people sometimes die outright from it, just because they are so certain they will die that they stop holding onto life.  
Battle Butler: Like Sebas Tian, Toro dresses and serves as a butler for Nazarick, especially for his creator Tempest.  
Battle Harem: Tempest forms one consisting of Shalltear and Entoma since they’re deadly fighters.  
Beast and Beauty: Toro has this relationship with Lucifer when he’s in his Minotaur form.  
Beauty, Brains and Brawn:  
-Lucifer Shadows (Beauty) is an adorable child who uses her cuteness to fool others.  
-Belle von Bane (Brains) is an intelligent Doppelgänger who prefers to kill out of self-benefit rather than sadism. Also, Heretic (Brains) who handles all of the group’s technical problems.  
-Toro (Brawn) is mainly a brawler who prefers to use his fists. Also, Tempest (Brawn) is a skilled swordsman.  
Beauty Equals Goodness/Beauty = Goodness: Lucifer is an adorable child with a very high karma value and in her true form she appears as a beautiful winged woman.  
Beauty Is Bad: It's noted that Belle von Bane is very beautiful. Too beautiful and in the wrong way, which is unnerving and an obvious sign of her true nature as a monster.  
Benevolent Boss: A villainous example. Belle acts as Toro’s, Heretic’s, and Lucifer’s superior, but doesn’t treat them in an ill manner and addresses them with a sense of comradery, and while she's more than capable of terminating their targets, she happily leaves the dirty work to her brutish partners.  
Berserk Button: Any perceived insult against Momonga or Nazarick or their creator Tempest, real or imagined, sends the four NPCs into a rage.  
-Tempest doesn’t like being looked down on, figuratively or literally.  
BFS: Tempest’s sword Jörmungandr is bigger than a full-grown human.  
Big Brother Instinct: Averted with Toro since he’s the youngest of his siblings but he won’t hesitate to jump to their defense.  
The Big Guy: Toro’s most notable trait. Aside from being the party's front-line tank, he's also VERY tall and quite well-built.  
Big Guy, Little Guy: Toro is the big to Heretic’s little. While posing as adventurers, Momon is the big to Cloud’s little.  
Big Little Brother: Toro is the youngest of his siblings but is physically taller than them.  
Big Sister Instinct: A good way to piss off Lucifer and Belle is to attack their siblings. God help you if you do.  
Blade Catch: Toro is a master of these with just his index finger and his thumb.  
Blasphemous Boast: All of Tempest’s NPCs feel disdain toward the Slane Theocracy for worshipping false gods instead of the glory of the Supreme Beings.  
-Belle: “So long as there is no empirical evidence of your so-called higher power, I'm not subscribing to it. But I'll tell you what, if I'm wrong and your God does exist... please tell him I said hello.”  
-Lucifer: “Tributes to fake Gods offend my master!”  
-Toro: “A God created me! What have your false Gods accomplished?”  
-Heretic: “Do I appear as if I value the opinion of your God?”  
Blood Knight: Toro loves a good fight, but he is more of a Spirited Competitor since he is not above praising his foes. Tempest also has shades of this since he enjoys killing for sport due to his dragon nature and it was a trait from his days of adventuring.  
Blow You Away: Tempest’s racial and job classes give him a natural affinity for air magic.  
Bodyguarding a Badass: The Four Horsemen won’t hesitate to protect Tempest and Ainz, even though their masters don’t really need protection.  
Boisterous Bruiser: Toro is a more subdued example because while he is friendly, prideful of his strength, protective of his family, and always eager to fight, he is also passive and soft-spoken.  
Brains and Brawn: Belle is the brains to Toro’s brawn, employing deception and subterfuge to achieve her goals. Toro is not very fond of Belle's underhanded approach and prefers to solve his problems with brute force. Also, Heretic is the brains to Lucifer’s brawn, preferring to work on his inventions rather than practice sword fighting.  
Break Them by Talking: Belle sometimes manipulates others by rubbing their failures, losses, and insecurities in their faces. Just to rub salt in the wound, she shapeshifts into their loved ones while demeaning them. She intends to trick them into getting angry or depressed enough to make a mistake.  
Breath Weapon: In his Dragon and Dragonoid forms, Tempest can exhale a stream of lightning.  
The Brute: Toro is this of Tempest’s NPCs. Toro fits this trope not just because of his strength but his build and the fact that he's a Minotaur. Although he averts the stereotype by being a:  
Gentle Giant: His interactions with his family are particularly d'aww-inducing, and he genuinely cares about his comrades.  
Genius Bruiser: Around 7 feet tall. A fearsome battlefield commander. An excellent martial artist. Badass.  
Carrying the Antidote: One of Heretic’s strategies is to poison people and compel them into cooperating by offering them the antidote. He’ll only keep his word if ordered to by his superiors or if he finds the victim more useful alive.  
Charles Atlas Superpower: Toro has trained himself to the point he can manipulate ki by channeling it in order to boost his defense and have Super Strength.  
Chessmaster Sidekick: Belle is clearly much more ruthless and cunning than her master yet, despite being an evil schemer, she really does work solely for Nazarick and to further Tempest's goals (or rather what she assumes Tempest's goals are).  
Co-Dragons: Belle von Bane and Heretic are usually the ones who report to Tempest.  
Cold Sniper: Heretic is a cold, silent, camouflaged hunter with a scope, a rifle, a very good eye, and near-zero emotions, who can shoot you in the face from a mile away and not lose a wink of sleep over it.  
Combat Medic: Heretic’s knowledge of anatomy makes him a much more efficient assassin and killer, but it also allows him to perform expert first aid on injured humans.  
Combat Pragmatist: Heretic has no problem using underhanded methods to achieve his goals.  
Cool Horse: Each of the Four Horsemen rides a majestic, mystical, flying horse.  
-Tempest: “Four riders on white, red, black, and pale horses symbolizing pestilence, war, famine, and death, respectively. (Revelation 6:2–8).”  
-Death/Angel of Death/Lucifer Shadows: “So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of her who sat on it was Death, and the Devil followed with her. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:8).”  
-Famine/Heretic: “So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine. (Revelation 6:5-6).”  
-War/Toro: “Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword. (Revelation 6:4).”  
-Pestilence/Belle von Bane: "And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. (Revelation 6:2).”  
Cool Sword: Tempest wields a huge greatsword and Lucifer has an arsenal of holy blades.  
The Cracker: Heretic uses his computer skills to acquire information and disrupt the communications network.  
Creepy Monotone: Heretic’s blunt, cold, and emotionless form of speech is the first clue that he’s really a machine.  
Crippling Overspecialization: Tempest’s talent for air magic makes his air spells stronger than the average mage but leaves him incapable of using other elemental spells.  
Cry Cute: Lucifer looks really precious when she cries.  
Cute Bruiser: Lucifer and Heretic look like adorable children, that just happen to be strong enough to snap a grown man’s neck with their hands.  
Cute and Psycho: Belle and Heretic look adorable with their human-like appearances and they’re the most terrifying members of the Four Human because of their complete disregard for the well-being of others.  
The Cutie: Lucifer is a bubbly, lovable little girl who wears adorable clothes.  
Daddy’s Little Villain: Tempest sees Belle as his daughter, and she is loyal to him and far crueler.  
Dark Chick: Lucifer is this due to her delicate, child-like stature, preferring to heal her allies rather than fight directly and relies on her angels to fight in serious battles.  
Dark Is Evil: Belle wears a black dress and is one of the most heartless denizens of Nazarick. Subverted with Toro who wears a dark suit but is an honorable fighter.  
Dark Magical Girl: Belle von Bane has magical powers that she uses primarily for evil.  
Dark Messiah: Tempest would love to create a world where him and his comrades aren’t regarded as monsters and he doesn’t care what methods he has to use to achieve it.  
Deadly Doctor: Heretic can patch you up as quickly as he can cut your heart out.  
Deadpan Snarker: Any jokes Belle or Heretic make come off as dry and sarcastic.  
Deal with the Devil: How Belle interacts with those when brute force isn’t necessary.  
Deliberately Cute Child: Tempest, Lucifer, and Belle can fake being a cute little children quite easily, but they’ll gladly manipulate and hurt those around them for their own advantage.  
Dissonant Serenity: Belle and Heretic are completely calm at all times. Even when they’re being threatened with dismemberment by low-lives.  
Does Not Like Shoes: Lucifer walks around barefoot in her human form. It symbolizes her child-like innocence.  
Doppelgänger Attack: Belle’s trump card, the Einherjar. It is a temporary summon that counts as a golem, meaning it is immune to instant death. It has no magic or skills, but it possesses the same base stats and equipment as Belle herself, just in case she isn't hard enough to beat.  
The Dragon: Pun aside, Tempest is Ainz Ooal Gown’s brutal general and protector. His high physical defense makes him a good shield for the incredibly powerful, but (relatively) frail spellcaster.  
Dragon-in-Chief: Tempest is the leader, but Belle is the most dangerous of the group and is completely subservient to her creator.  
Drop the Hammer: Tempest’s second weapon of choice is Thor’s Hammer, which can summon forth lightning.  
Dual Wielding: Heretic likes to carry two knives or two handguns.  
Elemental Powers: Tempest specializes in air magic, Lucifer can manipulate light, and Belle is an Elementalist.  
-Tempest:  
-Blow You Away  
-Shock and Awe

-Lucifer Shadows:  
-Light ‘em Up

-Belle von Bane:  
-An Ice Person  
-Blow You Away  
-Dishing Out Dirt  
-Making a Splash  
-Playing with Fire  
-Shock and Awe  
Elite Mook: Tempest’s NPCs are all level 100, which makes them MUCH more powerful than most of the monsters in Nazarick.  
Empowered Badass Normal: Heretic is building implants that will enhance the abilities of the ordinary soldiers that fight for the Sorcerer Kingdom.  
Energy Absorption: Both Tempest and Heretic can convert electricity into power to make themselves stronger.  
Equal-Opportunity Evil: Lucifer Shadows is a Fallen Angel, Belle von Bane is a Doppelgänger, Heretic is an Automaton, Toro is a Minotaur, and Tempest is a Lightning Dragonoid that was once human.  
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite their ruthless natures, Heretic and Belle care greatly for each other and their family.  
Evil Brit: Heretic, courtesy of being voiced by Brina Palencia (who voiced Ciel Phantomhive in the English dub of the anime television series “Black Butler”).  
Evil Genius: Heretic’s specialty is devising new ways to kill his targets and he’s the technical expert of the group. Belle is also this since she’s in charge of coming up with the group’s strategies.  
Evil Is Bigger: Both Toro and Tempest tower over their opponents while in their true forms.  
Evil Overlord: Tempest is this whenever he starts his own kingdom, albiet a fairly personable and affable one, but he is pretty ruthless in conquering everything on his path and absolutely nothing will dissuade him from getting what he wants.  
Evil Virtues: Tempest and his 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse NPCs display admirable qualities:  
-Tempest: Loyalty, Love, Bravery, Determination, Gratitude, Honesty, and Honor.  
-Lucifer Shadows: Equality, Loyalty, Love, Valor, Selflessness, Passion, and Humility.  
-Belle von Bane: Determination, Diligence, Loyalty, Passion, Patience, Resourcefulness, and Valor.  
-Heretic: Loyalty, Resourcefulness, Patience, Honesty, and Diligence.  
-Toro: Loyalty, Passion, Selflessness, Valor, Determination, Gratitude, and Honor.  
Evil vs. Evil: Belle has come into conflict with villainous groups like the Slane Theocracy and Eight Fingers crime syndicate. But she quickly proves to be more cunning and ruthless than them.  
The Evils of Free Will: Played with when it comes to Belle. As long as it doesn't interfere with her own desires and plans, Belle respects the choices of others and will listen to their pleas within reason. But most of the time she's only giving people the illusion of choice.  
-Belle: “Freedom is a gift the Supreme Beings bestow on those who are worthy. When have humans proven their worth?”  
Expy: The NPCs are based on fictional characters:  
-Lucifer Shadows is somewhat based on Filo from the anime “The Rising of the Shield Hero.”  
-Heretic’s appearance was modeled after Ciel Phantomhive from the anime “Black Butler.”  
-Toro’s design was inspired by Lord Tirek from the show “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.”  
Eyepatch of Power: Heretic wears an eyepatch over his left eye to hide his mechanical eye.  
The Fake Cutie: Tempest, Lucifer, Heretic, and Belle have no problem exploiting their harmless-looking human appearances to achieve their goals. Downplayed with Lucifer since while she is the oldest NPC she is a genuinely sweet girl.  
Fallen Angel: Lucifer’s backstory and race has her as this.  
A Father to His Men: Tempest is always kind and caring to his four NPCs because he sees them as his responsibility and, in a way, his family. Tempest is also this to the rest of the residents of Nazarick because he sees them as the children of his former guildmates.  
Faux Affably Evil: Belle acts friendly, cordial, and polite, but she's still a heartless and cunning sociopath who manipulates those around her.  
Fighter, Mage, Thief: Tempest and his NPCs are meant to be the classic D&D fighter, thief, mage, and healer group.  
-Toro, Toro is the largest and puts the most focus on his physical strength, is the Fighter.  
-Belle von Bane, Belle relies on strategy and clever use of her magic and shapeshifting abilities, is the Mage.  
-Heretic, Heretic relies on stealth, tactics, and tricks, is the Thief.  
-Lucifer Shadows, Lucifer specializes in holy magic and healing spells, is the healer.  
-Tempest, who is proficient in both elemental magic and sword combat, is a mix of the Fighter and the Mage.  
As an adventuring party:  
-Momon/Ainz and Minos/Toro are the Fighters because they fight using close-quarters combat.  
-Cloud/Tempest and Nabe/Narberal Gamma are the Mages because they specialize in using air-related magic and cast spells from a distance while in combat.  
-Kato/Heretic is the Thief because of his expertise in sneak attacks and sniping his opponents from far away.  
Five-Bad Band: Tempest and his “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” have this team dynamic:  
-The Big Bad/The Leader/The Heart: Tempest, he is the unquestioned leader who keeps his 4 NPCs united through their loyalty to him.  
-The Dragon/Dragon-in-Chief/Team Mom: Belle von Bane, she is the leader of the 4 Horsemen when Tempest is absent because of her strategic genius but she might as well be in charge since she’s much more competent when it comes to handling the tactician aspect. She merely lacks the ambition and interest to become a bigger threat. Belle cares greatly for her ‘siblings’ but hides it behind her cool, professional attitude.  
-The Evil Genius: Heretic, he is a brilliant scientist and combat pragmatist who prefers long-range weapons and serves as the espionage expert, tech advisor, and medic. Besides Belle, he is the most level-headed and cunning of the group.  
-The Brute: Toro, he is a tremendously large and powerful Genius Bruiser with monk abilities who enjoys the thrill of combat and prefers to fight his opponent directly in a battle of physical might.  
-The Dark Chick/Token Good Teammate: Lucifer Shadows, she is the least evil amongst her family and ruthlessly efficient, but generally nonchalant. Unlike Belle who is naturally cruel, Lucifer is evil out of duty and honor to her creator.  
-Team Pet or The (secondary) Brute: Any creatures summoned by Tempest, Lucifer, Belle, or Toro because they only exist to fight and die for their summoner.  
-Villain Secret Service: The Eight-Edge Assassins, mercenary summons that act as bodyguards.  
-The Renfield/Sycophantic Servant: All of the 4 Horsemen are this since they’re fanatically loyal to their creator Tempest.  
-Eldritch Abomination Behind the Man/Bigger Bad: Ainz Ooal Gown because he rules Nazarick and Tempest is his loyal general.  
This is the team dynamic without Tempest:  
-The Big Bad: Belle von Bane, the genius planner who doubles as a second Evil Genius.  
-The Dragon/The Evil Genius: Heretic, an efficient assassin who can keep up with Belle on an intellectual level.  
-The Brute: Toro, a huge Genius Bruiser who mainly fights with his fists.  
-The Dark Chick/Token Good Teammate: Lucifer Shadows, generally the most given to following her conscience.  
This is the team dynamic when the residents of Nazarick are masquerading as adventurers:  
-The Leader: Momon the “Dark Hero”/Ainz Ooal Gown, he is the unquestioned lord of Nazarick.  
-The Lancer: Cloud the “Grand Magic Caster”/Tempest, he is Ainz’s most trusted comrade and serves as a contrast to him by being the rude Anti-Hero to Ainz’s polite Ideal Hero act.  
-The Smart Guy: Kato the “One-Eye Archer”/Heretic, he is the most knowledgeable when it comes to science and espionage.  
-The Big Guy: Minos the “Immovable Mountain”/Toro, he is the best hand-to-hand fighter of the group.  
-The Chick/Token Evil Teammate: Nabe the “Beautiful Princess”/Narberal Gamma, she is the only female member of the team and is the most vicious.  
Five-Token Band: They’re a pretty diverse group of characters. They each fill a different type of person, some ways mundane and other ways fantastic:  
-Tempest is a Hispanic American adult turned Lightning Dragonoid  
-Belle is a shapeshifter that takes the appearance of an albino teenage girl.  
-Heretic is a British robot  
-Toro is an African-American Male and a Minotaur.  
-Lucifer Shadows is an Aryan Fallen Angel.  
Flunky Boss: Lucifer likes to fight by summoning an army of angels to back her up.  
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Lucifer Shadows is the Foolish to Toro’s, Heretic’s, and Belle’s Responsible. While Lucifer prefers to make jokes and pull pranks, her siblings formulate plans and battle preparations.  
For Science!: Heretic is interested in research and experimentation for its own sake.  
-Heretic: “Science must ever move forward.”  
Force and Finesse: Belle is the Finesse to Toro’s Force. She lacks the sheer strength of her brother, his durability or any of his other extreme physical abilities. But acts as the more rational, logical and strategic fighter with great skill in her abilities.  
Four Is Death: There’s a reason why Tempest calls his NPCs his “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” The Four Horsemen of Apocalypse are based off the biblical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Conquest (later addressed as Pestilence), War, Famine and Death. The Horsemen's backstory fits the theme of the biblical horsemen:  
-Lucifer Shadows represents Death because she spent her entire life fighting wars to the death in the name of Heaven.  
-Heretic represents Famine because he’s starved for knowledge and affection after losing his original creator.  
-Toro represents War because he’s a veteran of many man-made conflicts.  
-Belle von Bane represents Pestilence because she has seen people die from sickness and disease.  
Four-Philosophy Ensemble: These 4 NPCs cover the moral spectrum quite well based on their personality traits and actions:  
-The Optimist: Lucifer Shadows: She cares about everyone.  
-The Cynic: Belle von Bane: She sees everyone outside of Nazarick as tools and doesn’t care about the concerns of others unless it affects her duties to her master.  
-The Realist: Toro: The Only Sane Man who Lacks the Fantastic Racism and Stupid Good tendencies of his Nazarick colleagues, as well as tries to maintain the peace of the group.  
-The Apathetic: Heretic: Prefers to mind his own business and rarely brings forth his own opinions.  
-The Conflicted: Tempest: Struggles to control his emotions.  
Four-Temperament Ensemble: Tempest and his 4 NPCs.  
-Belle von Bane is Choleric: hardworking, determined, and strong-willed but cruel.  
-Heretic is Melancholic: cold, calculating, and logical but aloof.  
-Toro is Phlegmatic: quiet, polite, helpful, and loyal but reserved.  
-Lucifer Shadows is Sanguine: cheerful, childish, and kindhearted but impulsive.  
-Tempest is Eclectic: he is both gentle and confident as he acts both unemotional and emotional, making him the most balanced of the five.  
Freudian Trio: Lucifer Shadows is the Id because of her desire to help others regardless of the consequences, Heretic and Belle are the Superego because they prefer to focus on the goal at hand, and Toro and Tempest are the Ego because they mediate between the three.  
-Lucifer is The McCoy because she is the most passionate and can be impulsive whenever she sees innocents in danger, Belle and Heretic are The Spock since they value logic and reason above all else, and Toro and Tempest are The Kirk because they prefer to keep the group together and balance their teammates opposing personalities and be able to take their advice and choose between them without being overcome either by emotion or dispassionate logic.  
Gadgeteer Genius: Heretic and Belle specialize in building weapons to increase Nazarick’s power.  
Gender-Equal Ensemble: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse consists of two females (Lucifer Shadows and Belle von Bane) and two males (Heretic and Toro).  
Genius Bruiser: Toro is an expert in close-quarters combat and prefers to strike at a target’s weak spots (such as head, hear, etc. any vital organs or necessary body parts). He’s also a pretty good tactician. Heretic is also this since he is a highly-skilled doctor and a capable fighter who can beat the tar out of humans with his bare hands.  
Genki Girl: Lucifer Shadows is always perky, cheerful, upbeat, and energetic. She usually sports a smile on her face. Her behavior is a complete contrast to Belle and Heretic.  
Giant Equals Invincible: Toro is VERY hard to take down.  
Giant Mook: Toro is huge and powerful in both his human form and Minotaur form.  
Glowing Eyes of Doom: When Toro unleashes his Battle Aura, his pupils start glowing red.  
God Guise: Tempest is worshiped as a god in his own right by the residents of Nazarick and some in the New World. He doesn’t like being treated as a god but is willing to play along as this served his ends well enough anyway.  
Good Powers, Bad People: You wouldn't know it from initial appearances that Belle specializes in holy magic. But yes, she does have 5 levels in Cleric, among other skills, despite being the nastiest of the Four Horsemen. This also applies to Heretic since he is a competent medic and an amoral scientist.  
Good Powers, Good People: Lucifer Shadows is a very powerful healer and one of the kindest souls you’ll ever meet.  
Good Wings, Evil Wings: Lucifer has one of the angel variations in her human form. Tempest has scaled wings in his Dragon and Dragonoid forms.  
Gun Nut: Heretic has extensive knowledge of firearms and keeps an arsenal of guns.  
The Gunslinger: Heretic’s class is given as "Automaton Gunner".  
Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Toro and Belle have this dynamic when they fight together, Toro prefers to fight with close-quarters combat while Belle bombards her enemies with elemental magic from a distance.  
-Inverted with Heretic and Lucifer as Heretic prefers to snipe enemies from far away while Lucifer engages in melee combat.  
Hammerspace: When Lucifer Shadows uses her quick-change crystal, her dress is put "away" into space.  
Hate Plague: Toro’s power when he poses as the Horseman War. He can incite blind rage in people in order to start wars and skirmishes.  
Heroes Prefer Swords: Well, “hero” is a bit of a stretch to call Tempest because of his vicious predatory nature but he is far kinder than most of the residents of Nazarick and he wields a giant greatsword.  
Hit-and-Run Tactics: Heretic. Strikes very fast and immediately hides to avoid detection.  
Honest Advisor: While it’s accepted all denizens of Nazarick are impossibly loyal to Tempest, his 4 NPCs are the ones he implicitly trusts beyond all others. He is more honest with them than any of the other NPCs and asks them questions he doesn't want answered with fawning bias.  
Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Used as the name and titles of Tempest’s four top servants who are his own personally created NPCs. They’re his bringers of Pestilence, War, Famine and Death. Belle von Bane is Pestilence, Toro is War, Heretic is Famine and Lucifer Shadows is Death.  
Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Toro is enormous while Lucifer barely reaches up to his waist.  
Humans Are Survivors: Tempest expresses these sentiments to the human-hating Nazarick residents:  
-Tempest: “Humans are not the weaklings you take them for. Each, be he hero or villain, is dying from the day he is born. Each breath... each effort... is an act of courage against inevitable doom... such courage we immortals can only dream of.”  
Hunk: Toro is very tall and muscular. He's considered very attractive to female Minotaurs and any female Minotaurs drawn to powerful males.  
Idol Singer: Lucifer Shadows enjoys singing in taverns and became immensely popular, to the point that during a festival she headlined a concert that was selling idol memorabilia.  
Implacable Man: Thanks to their high defense stats, Tempest and Toro can take massive hits and just keep coming.  
Improbable Aiming Skills: Heretic can see a sniper several blocks away on a skyscraper. After the sniper fired, Heretic fired his weapon, hit the enemy's projectile in mid-air, destroyed it, hit the scope of the sniper's rifle, and blew the guy's head away. Mind you that the sniper wasn't even aiming for him so to match the trajectory of the sniper's bullet and even see the damn thing to hit it midair and STILL hit his targets scope dead center is so beyond impossible that it's ludicrous. How far can he see?  
Improbable Weapon User: One of Heretic’s schticks is that he can use seemingly harmless objects, such as paper clips, to kill using his freakishly accurate aim.  
In a Single Bound: Despite his mass, Toro can jump really high thanks to his powerful legs.  
Innocent Blue Eyes: Lucifer Shadows. Lucifer is very sweet and innocent.  
Jack-All-Of-Trades: Heretic functions as a gunner, medic, scout, interrogator, torturer, engineer, alchemist, chemist, infiltrator, and bodyguard.  
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tempest is aggressive, rude, and impatient, especially toward people he doesn’t like and might even have no problem killing anyone who annoys him, but he’s a loyal friend to his guildmates, is fiercely protective toward his NPCs, and won’t tolerate innocents getting slaughtered.  
Juggernaut: All of them are much too strong for humans to fight directly.  
Kavorka Man: Tempest is a scary looking reptile-like creature, but that doesn’t stop Shalltear and Entoma from being attracted to him.  
Ki Attacks: Toro can use Ki to harden his body and make his fists deal more damage.  
Ki Manipulation: Toro is of the Self-Enhancement and Super Toughness variety. Due to his monk classes, Toro can use ki to heal or brainwash targets.  
Kick Chick: Due to her strong legs, Lucifer Shadows tends to utilize a lot of dropkicks on her enemies.  
Kick the Son of a Bitch: Neither Tempest nor any of his NPCs have much patience, mercy, or forgiveness for scumbags.  
Killer Rabbit: Lucifer Shadows looks like a small, adorable child that can tear a grown man’s arms off with her bare hands. Heretic looks like a frail little boy, but he can slit your throat before you even blink.  
Killer Robot: Heretic was designed to be an expert on committing murder.  
Knife Nut: Heretic prefers to kill his targets quickly by slitting their throats with sharp weapons such as knives, daggers, and other stabbing weapons.  
Knight Templar: They believe anyone who harms or threatens their master must be killed, even if they are of no threat or if given explicit orders to capture them alive.  
Kung-Fu Wizard: Tempest is a powerful air elemental mage whose strong enough to shatter a human head with just one punch.  
Large and in Charge: Averted with Toro, though he is biggest of the group, he is, in fact, the second to last-in-command of the four since Belle and Heretic prefer HIM giving orders over the irresponsible Lucifer Shadows.  
The Leader/Evil Genius: Belle is this for her siblings when Tempest isn’t around because she is the smartest and most devious of them. Tempest and the other NPCs defer to her for advice or information.  
Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: Toro apologizes for the fact that he's not able to provide a fair fight to his enemies because of the vast difference in their strength.  
Light ‘em Up: Lucifer Shadows can produce blinding light.  
Light Is Good: Lucifer is a holy creature and one of the most virtuous beings of Nazarick.  
Light Is Not Good: Belle's a depraved and evil monster who is also a cleric.  
Lightning Bruiser: Toro and Tempest share this trait. If Toro goes all out on offense, not even the highest defensive builds can withstand his attacks. In Yggdrasil, Tempest was more of a Mighty Glacier because his Agility is only middling at 70/100 but he has high Physical Attack and Physical Defense, however, it’s different in the New World because his stats are so much higher than the low-level inhabitants that it looks like he’s teleporting.  
Little Big Sister: Lucifer's the first of Tempest's creations, but she looks like a little girl while most of her younger "siblings" look older.  
Little Miss Badass: Lucifer Shadows is as cute as a button and can tear a person’s face off with her bare hands.  
Little Miss Snarker: Lucifer tends to be sarcastic whenever someone does something morally questionable.  
-Belle is also this since she has no trouble making sarcastic comments when someone does anything idiotic.  
Lizard Folk: Tempest used to play as a Lizardman before he upgraded to a Dragonoid.  
Long-Range Fighter: Belle and Heretic are this. Belle prefers to kill her opponents from a distance with her magic and Heretic is a Combat Pragmatist who prefers to kill his targets while minimizing any risks to himself.  
Mad Scientist: Belle and Heretic don’t mind making weapons of mass destruction for their sociopathic masters.  
Made of Air: Tempest’s Lightning Djinn summon is basically a semi-sentient cloud monster, so its body is made of gas. Its gaseous form makes it immune to purely physical attacks.  
Mage Killer: Heretic was clearly designed for this, as a Long-Range Fighter who sacrifices Mana Power and Magical Attack for outstanding Physical Attack and solid Magical Defense.  
Magic Knight: Belle von Bane, Lucifer Shadows, and Tempest. Belle is equally (that is to say highly) proficient in melee combat and magic. Lucifer can use a sword as well as holy and druid magic. Tempest is a powerful spellcaster, wields a giant sword, and wears heavy armor.  
Magical Barefooter: Lucifer Shadows is a powerful priestess and holy knight who's never worn a shoe or sandal in her life.  
Malevolent Masked Men: Tempest’s four NPCs are this when disguised as Jaldabaoth’s servants.  
Man Bites Man: Tempest has no issue biting people.  
Man in White: While posing as Jaldabaoth’s butler, Toro wears a white butler suit.  
Man of Wealth and Taste: Toro is a very well-dressed servant in his human form.  
Manipulative Bitch: Belle is good at putting on a friendly face, but she really has nothing but contempt for everyone who isn’t a Supreme Being or from Nazarick.  
Master Actor: Belle is exceptionally skilled at emulating any person that she's disguised as since she has 5 levels in Actress.  
Master of All: Belle and Tempest are this. Belle can use the skills and abilities of anyone she transforms into. Tempest stats are balanced and quite high in all domains, also he was a level 100 Magic Knight in Yggdrasil but compared to the New World inhabitants (which consider a level 30 creature as legendary), he is superior in every "stat" to just about everyone else.  
Master of None: Tempest and Belle suffer from this. Tempest can use both close-range combat and long-range magic as he is a hybrid of Fighter and Mage, however, the drawback to this versatility is that he isn’t as powerful as a pure warrior like Touch Me and his spells aren’t as powerful as those of a pure magic caster like Ulbert Alain Odle. The problem with being a multi-class is that it is easier to excel in one class than several. When Belle mimics a person's form, she can use all of their abilities and skills only up to 80% of their original potency, so she isn’t as powerful as the original.  
Master Poisoner: Heretic likes to kill his targets quickly with either poison bombs or weapons coated with poison. He especially likes to employ the use of knives coated with slow-acting deadly poisons.  
Master Swordsman: Tempest is very skilled with a sword since he has 10 levels in Sword Master and 10 levels in Sword Saint.  
The Medic: Heretic is an expert in medicine and uses his knowledge of anatomy to develop new torture methods. Belle and Lucifer are also this due to possessing levels in the cleric job class.  
Megaton Punch: One punch from any of them can make a regular person’s head explode.  
Mind Control: By touching the forehead of a person with his palm, Toro can bend them to his will by using a skill called "Hand Of The Puppeteer".  
Mind Rape: Heretic’s shtick. He uses his fear gas to make his victims experience their worst fears.  
Mole in Charge: One of Belle’s favorite tactics is to infiltrate enemy groups by disguising herself as their leader.  
Multiversal Conqueror: Belle plans on helping Nazarick conquer countless dimensions.  
Multi-Melee Master: Heretic is proficient with daggers, knives, firearms, and a bow.  
Mundane Utility: Belle has 5 levels in Cooking, which makes her a very talented chef as Sous-chef doesn’t mind her helping out in the Restaurant of Nazarick.  
-This also applies to Tempest’s summons as he can use these terrifying creatures to serve as a wait staff for visiting dignitaries.  
Muscles Are Meaningful: Toro is a well-muscled brawler and is the only horseman who prefers fighting with his bare fists.  
Muscles Are Meaningless: Belle, Lucifer, and Heretic appear quite small and thin but are VERY capable of tearing limbs off with their bare hands.  
Mystical White Hair: Belle has silver hair and Toro is a centaur with white hair.  
Nice Guy: This is Tempest’s true personality, a kind but snarky young man.  
Nice, Mean, and In-Between: Lucifer is the nice one, Belle is the mean one, and Toro, Heretic, and Tempest are in-between. Lucifer is highly compassionate and forgiving, if sometimes immature. Belle is cold, arrogant, and manipulates people for favors. Toro is reserved outside of battle but has a temper and cares a lot for his friends. Heretic prefers to avoid causing unnecessary trouble. Tempest can be moody but prefers everyone to get along.  
Nigh-Invulnerability: All of the NPCs and Tempest are bulletproof and pretty much immune to physical harm. Tempest and Toro, in particular, possess very high physical and magical defense.  
Nightmare Fuel: Literally. One of Heretic’s deadliest weapons is a fear gas that makes its victims experience their worst fears in horrifying ways.  
Noble Demon: Toro’s Alignment is +100, which is on the good side of 'Neutral'. He is fiercely loyal to Tempest and Momonga, lacks the more xenophobic attitudes of his peers, and praises the courage and skill of his opponents even if they are vastly weaker than him.  
-Tempest is also this because while he is a villain, he has many sympathetic traits such as being willing to reward worlds that surrender to Nazarick and allow them to prosper with the use of Nazarick’s advanced technology.  
Non-Malicious Monster: Heretic, despite his calculating and merciless nature isn't malicious or sadistic. He’s a machine designed and programmed to carry out specific tasks in the most efficient manner possible and is no more likely to inflict unnecessary pain and suffering on anyone than a calculator.  
Not So Stoic: Belle and Heretic come off as cold and ruthless, but they have their moments of kindness and humor.  
No Guy Wants to Be Chased: Tempest is unnerved by Shalltear’s aggressive flirting with him. But it’s downplayed with Entoma since Tempest finds her awkward advances a little endearing and adorkable.  
Older Than They Look: Lucifer has the appearance of a child but is the eldest of her siblings. When Belle and Tempest are in their human forms they have the appearance of teenagers but are actually adults.  
Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Belle and Heretic are this due to Tempest specifically designing them to be geniuses. Although they apply their intellects in different ways, Belle uses her tactical expertise to lead and defend her siblings while Heretic uses his aptitude for science to build weapons. One subject they both specialize in is robotics, which helps them build machine soldiers like the Clockwork Soldiers.  
-Belle specializes in military strategy, psychology, politics, sociology, political science, anthropology, literature, history, agriculture, economics, philosophy, engineering, and robotics.  
-Heretic is an expert in psychology, biochemistry, toxicology, robotics, medicine, genetics, physiology, biology, neurology, anatomy, physics, military science, and computer science.  
One-Handed Zweihänder: Tempest can wield his large BFS, Jörmungandr, with just one hand.  
One-Man Army: All five of them can mow through scores of Mooks without getting a scratch. Just one of them is enough to take over a country for Nazarick. Or "liberate it" as they call it.  
One-Winged Angel: Tempest, Lucifer, and Toro can each turn into a more powerful form that grants them access to stronger magic and abilities. For Tempest it’s his dragon form, for Lucifer it’s her true Fallen Angel Form, and for Toro it’s his Minotaur form.  
One-Woman Army: Upon hearing of Belle’s weaker abilities a group of high ranked adventurers estimate that an army of ten thousand men would be needed to match her. She was only using low-level magic and is actually one of the strongest combatants in all of Nazarick.  
Our Angels Are Different: Lucifer is a fallen angel with a good moral compass.  
Our Dragons Are Different: Tempest is a Dragonoid, Dragonoids are a subspecies that are related to the mighty Dragons, signified by their mighty wings and proud but violent demeanor. Dragonoids possess skills in both magic and weapons, so there is very little Dragonoids cannot do and their close relationship to Dragons makes them all the stronger for it. Some Dragonoids are born with a blessing that allows them to master a certain school of magic, but in return, this makes them more vulnerable to other certain magics. Dragonoids are a subspecies with certain benefits and drawbacks. There are several different types of Dragonoids: Water Dragonoids, Lightning Dragonoids, Holy Dragonoids, and Fire Dragonoids.  
Our Minotaurs Are Different: Toro is a cross between a Minotaur and a Big Red Devil, having red skin, a pair of large horns, and his human parts are rendered as very ape-like instead, giving him a gorilla's head and torso on the body of a bull.  
Outside-Context Problem: Nazarick as a whole serves as this to any world that it is teleported to because the inhabitants never expect anything like the monsters that live in it.  
Parasol of Prettiness: As part of Belle’s Elegant Gothic Lolita attire, she carries a parasol.  
Perky Female Minion: Lucifer Shadows is quite perky and upbeat in comparison to her siblings, especially the brooding Belle, the overly serious Heretic, and the disciplined Toro.  
Person of Mass Destruction: Any one of these individuals can destroy an entire city by themselves.  
Pet the Dog: Evil and uncaring they may be, but Belle and Heretic value the lives of their fellow Nazarick comrades, and step in to protect them rather than allow the enemy to kill even one of them.  
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Lucifer and Heretic are pretty short and scrawny, but they can shrug off wounds that would kill humans and they pack a mean punch.  
Plague Master: Heretic’s primary contributions to Ainz's regime are the nightmarish biological weapons he invents.  
-Belle von Bane is also this because she has undead forms that allow her to spread disease through physical contact.  
Power Copying: As a high-level Doppelgänger, Belle can transform into a target to copy 90% of their abilities if they're below level 60, and 80% of their abilities if they're above that.  
Power Nullifier: Toro can temporarily nullify attacks made by weapons with weak magic power.  
Praetorian Guard: Belle von Bane, Lucifer Shadows, Toro, and Heretic serve as Tempest’s elite bodyguards as it is their duty as his personally created NPCs.  
Pragmatic Villainy: This is pretty much Belle’s M.O. She’ll perform acts of kindness and cruelty toward the residents of the New World only if they benefit her.  
Proud Warrior Race Guy: Although we don't know much about Minotaurs, Toro certainly fits the bill personality-wise, so maybe just a "proud warrior guy".  
Psycho Sidekick: Belle and Heretic are this to Tempest since they’re much more willing to resort to immoral methods like kidnapping, torture, and murder.  
Punch-Clock Villain: While they serve Tempest and Ainz, Tempest’s NPCs never display the sadism, bloodlust or perversions the other residents of Nazarick show. They only do what they do because Tempest and Ainz order them.  
Purple Is Powerful: Belle has purple eyes and is one of the strongest fighters in Nazarick.  
The Quiet One: Toro speaks the least out of his siblings, especially when compared to the hyperactive Lucifer, the commanding Belle, and the analytical Heretic.  
Quirky Miniboss Squad: Four powerful beings that consist of a childish Fallen Angel, a stuck-up shapeshifter, an emotionless machine, and a battle-hungry Minotaur.  
Razor Floss: Heretic uses white koto strings (sometimes harp strings) in battle; they’re used to affect a person’s facial feature and are very very sharp and can even tear up solid earth, bones, skin, muscles and sometimes steel based on the vibrations of the finger; the strings also have other uses such as listening in on distant conversations. These strings can also be used to restrain people’s movements.  
Razor-Sharp Hand: Toro and Lucifer mete justice on Nazarick’s enemies by chopping their heads off with their bare hands.  
“The Reason You Suck” Speech: Belle prefers to psychologically deconstruct people by calling them out on their failures and personality flaws. The reason why she despises humans isn’t simple racism, it’s because she views them as stupid irresponsible children who need a leader to stop them from killing themselves.  
-Belle: “What have humans ever accomplished on their own? War? Segregation? Environmental degradation? Are those the achievements your so proud of? Has it ever occurred to you that it’s simply human nature to crave violence? Your like spoiled children, always making a mess and never learning from your mistakes. What humanity needs is a strong leader to keep them in line, so they don’t destroy their own world through their own stupidity.”  
Recursive Ammo: Even Heretic’s bullets fire bullets.  
Red Baron: Tempest has earned the title of “The Dragon of Disaster”, Lucifer Shadows is known as "The Dark Light of Hope," Belle von Bane is called “The Beautiful Black Rose with White Thorns,” Heretic is referred to as “The Doctor of Dread,” and Toro has the moniker “The Unbreakable Brawling Beast.”  
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Toro and Lucifer are Red, Belle and Heretic are Blue. This often shifts with their personalities as Toro is Hot-Blooded and can have a bad temper while Belle keeps a cool head and is serious about keeping things in order. Lucifer likes to fool around a lot and is a prankster while Heretic is more into technological advancements and is way more focused on his duties than Lucifer.  
Repressive, but Efficient: Belle believes that the best way to run a successful empire is by promoting health, equality, education, employment, and snuffing out the freedom of the citizens but maintaining the illusion of free will to prevent rebellion.  
-Belle: “In the words of Harry S. Truman: “Whenever you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship.””  
Ridiculously Human Robots: Heretic is not as emotionless as he appears at first, and is capable of doing most of the things a human could. This applies to the entire Automaton race because at one time Ainz apparently experimented with memory-tampering spells on Shizu Delta, which seems odd considering that, as a machine, she should have immunity to all mind-related spells just like The Undead do. Knowing Maruyama's propensity for basing his lore on Dungeons & Dragons, it seems likely that the automaton race functions more like the magitek Warforged of Eberron than any conventional robot.  
Robo Speak: Heretic generally speaks in an emotionless monotone voice, but he can speak normally when trying to blend in with humans.  
Rude Hero, Nice Sidekick: Inverted with Ainz and Tempest when they pose as adventurers. Momon is a polite, noble hero who’s always happy to help those in need while his companion Cloud is the anti-heroic lancer who has no problem telling people what he thinks of them.  
-Played straight when Tempest travels either with Toro or Lucifer. These two NPCs are generally more patient and better mannered than their creator.  
Sarcastic Devotee: Tempest has no problem snarking at Ainz, but he’d gladly fight and die for him.  
Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Lucifer Shadows is the cheerful and fun-loving Energetic Girl to Heretic's reclusive and stoic Savvy Guy.  
Self-Destruct Mechanism: One of Heretic’s special abilities was self-destruct. Before he dies, he teleports to his opponents and activates his self-destruct device that’s implemented in his body, causing great damage with it to his enemies.  
Servile Snarker: Tempest’s NPCs are lower-ranked than the Floor Guardians but that don’t stop them from talking back, snarking, insulting, or threatening them when they do something weird or stupid, especially when it involves their creator, Tempest.  
Shapeshifter Default Form: Belle generally remains in her human form when carrying out mundane tasks.  
Sharp-Dressed Man: In his human form, Toro typically wears an elegant butler’s uniform.  
Ship Tease: Shalltear and Entoma have made it clear that they find Tempest attractive. Lupusregina is drawn to Toro because she enjoys teasing the always serious Demi-Human.  
Shipper on Deck: Belle would prefer that her master Tempest get engage to Entoma because she disapproves of Shalltear’s bloodlust and perversions since they make her a liability. Toro and Lucifer support Shalltear’s crush on Tempest because they think a Floor Guardian would make a good mate for their master (and they find Entoma’s bugs creepy). Heretic prefers to stay out of his master’s relationships because his master’s choice is his and his alone (although, he doesn’t mind giving advice to either Entoma or Shalltear on how to win his affection because he’s curious about the results).  
Shock and Awe: Tempest’s favorite spells involve lightning, and he is an Elementalist of air.  
Short-Range Guy, Long-Range Guy: Toro and Heretic serve as this. Toro is a martial arts master and monk capable of beating up dozens of enemies with just his fists while Heretic is an expert marksman who can take out several targets in less than a minute with his Magic Gun.  
Short-Range Long-Range Weapon: Heretic can use his Magic Gun at long-range and up close.  
Shoulder Teammate: Lucifer Shadows likes to sit on Toro’s shoulder for fun or when she doesn’t feel like walking/flying. On occasion, while in his human form Tempest likes to sit on Toro’s shoulder.  
Showy Invincible Hero: Tempest can wipe out entire armies with his magic and he’s almost impossible to injure thanks to his high defense stats and passives.  
Sinister Scythe: When posing as Jaldabaoth’s interrogator, Inquisitor, Heretic wields a scary-looking black scythe that he uses in battle.  
The Social Darwinist: Tempest’s believes in culling the weak so that the strong survive. This extends to himself, as well; he has been entirely willing to die whenever he's been defeated due to his belief that his own failure makes him unworthy of life.  
The Sociopath: Belle is more or less a representation of what a high functioning sociopath would be like in a fantasy setting. While she shows very little emotion and seems to hold no attachment to anyone (she supports her family, has no problems eliminating people which include children and develops relationships with people outside of Nazarick just so she can use and manipulate them) everything she does is to do her job well and advance her master’s aims. Furthermore, while there seems to be no limit to what she will do to advance her or Nazarick's agenda, she is never petty and would not do anything immoral if there was a more efficient method in hand.  
Soft-Spoken Sadist: Belle will happily describe the unbearable agony she is going to inflict on those unfortunate enough to stand in her way, and proudly declare that she will turn an entire nation into a suffering pit, all while never once raising her voice or breaking her calm and even cadence. It’s downplayed however since she is not a sadist, but she does suffer from a serious case of Lack of Empathy.  
Spanner in the Works: Nazarick as a whole is this to the New World since the tomb’s residents interfere in the plans of New World groups such as the Slane Theocracy, Baharuth Empire, and Eight Fingers.  
Squishy Wizard: This is what Tempest appears as when he assumes his ‘Cloud’ adventurer guise but he’s actually a Magic Knight.  
The Stoic: Heretic was designed to appear unfailingly stone-faced and rarely shows emotion in his voice.  
Story-Breaker Power: Tempest and his NPCs possess strength and abilities that can easily end any conflict, especially with low-level opponents.  
The Strategist: Belle is an expert Chessmaster and Xanatos Speed Chess player and is responsible for the logistic aspects of the Four Horsemen.  
Straw Nihilist / The Anti-Nihilist: Tempest manages to be both at the same time. Tempest’s philosophy is "your choices don't matter because we will all be dust someday,” but he also professes that making the choice itself might matter.  
Strong and Skilled: Along with being Unskilled, but Strong (see below) the residents of Nazarick are this compared to the beings from the New World. Not only are Tempest, Lucifer, Belle, Heretic, and Toro strong enough to crush bones with their bare hands, but they’re highly-skilled combatants. Tempest is an accomplished swordsman and air Elementalist with numerous destructive spells. Lucifer is a talented healer, capable summoner, and competent swordswoman. Belle can use several different types of magic. Heretic is proficient with many different weapons. Toro is a deadly hand-to-hand fighter.  
Strong Girl, Smart Guy: Lucifer Shadows and Heretic. She’s a skilled warrior capable of taking down opponents ten times her size, while he’s a talented scientist who prefers to avoid unnecessary conflict.  
-Inverted with Belle and Toro, Belle prefers strategy while Toro relies on martial arts.  
Stronger Than They Look: Lucifer Shadows can easily toss aside humans while in her child-like form, Heretic can lift an adult with one hand, and Tempest can break a person’s neck with one swing of a blunt weapon even in his weaker human child form.  
Stupid Good: While Lucifer is not stupid by any means, her humanitarian attitude does not align itself all that well with Nazarick's general hatred and contempt towards humanity. She is fully aware of this and even muses that his urge to help those in need is something of a curse but doesn’t regret helping out others.  
Submissive Badass: Tempest is actually stronger than Momonga because his character build is focused on combat rather than roleplaying but he’s fine with following Momonga’s orders since he has no interest in leading or ruling though to seeing it as too much work. Fighting is more fun for him.  
Summon Magic: Tempest can summon creatures affiliated with the element of air, Lucifer Shadows can summon an army of angels, Toro can call upon Beastmen soldiers to fight for him in battle, and Belle von Bane can use her Doppelgänger abilities to use the summon spells of whoever she turns into.  
Super Mode: Tempest’s Dragon form grants him access to powerful spells that only dragons can use.  
Super Power Lottery: Belle can transform into anything or anyone, retaining the powers and properties of her disguise. She can turn into animals, Floor Guardians, and even Supreme Beings.  
Super Strength: All of them can rip a human’s head off with their bare hands.  
Super Supremacist: Tempest is kind of this. He definitely considers strong beings to be the Master Race compared to humanity, whom he usually wants to kill. However, some monsters are more equal than others in his philosophy, since he only cares about literal survival of the fittest. Therefore, by his own logic the weaker beings are to be destroyed by the more powerful ones as well. And of course, he considers himself to be the apex of evolution.  
Super Toughness: They’re all very hard to put down by physical or magical means.  
Supernatural Martial Arts: Toro’s character classes are all devoted to excelling at this.  
Sword and Sorcerer: Lucifer Shadows is the Sword to Belle von Bane’s Sorcerer, though she is noted to be deceptively strong.  
Tattoo as Character Type: In American prisons, a teardrop-shaped tattoo below the eye, much like Heretic’s, means the prisoner with it has killed someone while in prison. Read that as you may but it should obviously contribute to the idea that Heretic isn't someone to be messed with.  
Team Chef: Belle cooks in her spare time.  
Technopath: Heretic can mentally communicate with (and control) all forms of machinery, letting him access computer files and manipulate programming to suit his needs.  
Telepathy: As a Doppelgänger, Belle has the ability to read the surface level thoughts of those she's speaking with to see how they expect or want her to respond. Despite this... she rarely deviates from her scheming routine.  
Teleporters and Transporters: Belle’s Gate spell is often used to magically transfer large quantities of material or small armies across vast distances. She takes tremendous pride in how Tempest values her ability to cast it and the vast Mundane Utility it provides (like being able to quickly cross long distances without relying on Shalltear Bloodfallen).  
Tin Man: Heretic seems completely emotionless, but he feels great love for his family and especially his creator, Tempest.  
Token Evil Teammate: Belle is the most likely to engage in torture and mass murder.  
Token Good Teammate: In the character bios, Lucifer has the highest Good alignment rating of all the Nazarick NPCs. This is partially the influence of her creator, who believed angels, whether fallen or not, should be defenders. Also, unlike most of the other positive alignment NPCs, with the exception of Sebas Tian, she actually does behave heroically whenever she can.  
Torture Always Works: Heretic is very good at getting people to unwittingly spill their secrets, but they usually end up severely traumatized afterward.  
Torture Technician: Heretic’s specialty is acquiring information from victims by using any painful method he can think of. He helps Neuronist Painkill interrogate prisoners locked up in the Frozen Prison on the 5th floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.  
Tranquil Fury: Belle is truly a master at this. She can be absolutely enraged without showing any emotion on her face or voice, but if she gets her hands on the irritant, and is confident about dealing with the consequences...  
Two Girls to a Team: Lucifer Shadows and Belle von Bane are the only two female members of the group.  
Underestimating Badassery: Lucifer, Belle, Heretic, and Tempest (in his human form) are at first viewed as weak children by thugs, low-lives, and egotistical adventurers that think they can easily push them around. After being beaten or watching their comrades die, these scumbags quickly change their opinion on the residents of Nazarick.  
Undying Loyalty: To their creator. As loyal as they are to Nazarick and Ainz, they have thoughts that reveal that if they had to choose between Ainz and their creator, they would side with their creator in a heartbeat. They would rather die than inconvenience their creator, Tempest.  
Unscrupulous Hero: Almost unique among the important Nazarick NPCs is that Lucifer believes in helping people, regardless of race, with no thought for the benefits or rewards, but her idea of how to act on her sense of justice is extremely merciless and includes killing people who have surrendered to her and can't fight back, the unconscious and will gladly Pay Evil unto Evil when she finds someone particularly repugnant. However, she only does this to people she finds utterly and unrepentantly evil, most lesser thugs she will merely render unconscious and allow the Kingdom's authorities to deal with.  
Unskilled, but Strong: The residents of Nazarick are this to the inhabitants of the New World because beings from YGGDRASIL can’t use the Supernatural Martial Arts that originate from the New World. Martial Arts from the New World are basically self-buffs people can use without relying on magic. Includes skills for boosting agility, strength, defense, etc.  
Utility Party Member: Belle is this in her default form. Since the only thing she needs in combat is her racial power to shapeshift, her job levels are mostly utility skills like "Craftsman" or "Expert".  
Visionary Villain: Tempest doesn’t have much interest or ambition for ruling but he’ll gladly help Ainz conquer the world to build his utopia.  
-Tempest: “Everything weak and inefficient they've built will fall! And from the ashes of their world, we'll build a better one!”  
Vitriolic Best Buds: Lucifer with Belle and Heretic, to the point of sibling rivalry. Belle finds Lucifer childish and Lucifer finds Belle snobby. But they care about each other. Lucifer thinks Heretic is uptight but really smart and Heretic is annoyed by Lucifer’s lack of focus but usually ignores her unless he needs her to test out one of his potions.  
Voluntary Shapeshifting: Belle can assume the form of anyone she's seen, including Ainz and Tempest.  
Was Once a Man: Tempest was a regular human in real life, but ever since he was transported to the New World he has become his Lightning Dragonoid avatar.  
Weak, but Skilled: Belle is this compared to her family because she has the lowest Physical Attack and Physical Defense of all, but her shapeshifting abilities provide her greater versatility and her talent for leadership grants her allies bonuses while her strategic mind allows her to outsmart her opponents.  
Weapon of Choice: Heretic was designed to finish his opponents off quickly in the most effective way possible, so he wouldn’t waste time playing games with them. And he’s not picking about how he kills them:  
-Arrows  
-Caltrops (sometimes poisoned)  
-Daggers  
-Flashbangs  
-Grappling Hooks  
-Guns  
-Knives  
-Landmines  
-Mantrap  
-Poisons  
-Razor Floss  
-Terror Toxin  
-Traps  
Weather Manipulation: Tempest and Lucifer can cast spells that affect the weather.  
White Hair, Black Heart: Belle von Bane is a cruel, evil white-haired Doppelgänger. Subverted with Toro as he possesses noble qualities.  
Wicked Cultured: Belle enjoys wearing beautiful dresses and reading classical literature.  
Woman in White: Belle wears a white dress whenever she feels like it. Lucifer usually wears a white ruffle dress and wears a white kimono whenever she goes undercover.  
Worthy Opponent: Toro considers the Lizardmen, Go Gin, Neia, Gazef, and Climb this because they show the bravery and determination of true warriors. They also consider Toro this because of his great strength.  
Younger Than They Look: Toro was created to look like an adult. While Toro has the mindset and wisdom of an adult, it is noted that he is technically younger than his siblings.  
Your Head Asplode: When Toro goes for a killing blow, he aims for the head. When his target is weak enough to die from that blow, well...  
Villainous Friendship: Belle and Heretic get along the best out of all their siblings because they can match each other on an intellectual level.  
Villainous Valour: Belle and Heretic are monsters, but they won’t hesitate to protect their family.  
Well-Intentioned Extremist: While Lucifer and Toro will blindly obey Ainz and Tempest, even if they dislike or disagree with their orders, they do genuinely believe that their masters will make the world a better place where they’ll be no segregation or war by conquering it and spreading the glory of Nazarick even if it requires the death of thousands which they regard as a tragic but necessary sacrifice.

My Personal Overlord Player Tempest:  
Real Name: Donathan “Donny” Drake  
Avatar Name: Tempest  
Character Info: Donathan Drake, nicknamed “Donny,” works as a 23-year-old intern in a community center. He lives with his mother and father in a two-story apartment in Chicago, Illinois. He has played the game YGGDRASIL for 10 years ever since he saw a commercial for it on the internet when he was 13-years-old. The game had been active since its release in 2126 AD and until 2138 AD. In the current year, 2138, however, the game's community by then already lost the vibrancy it once had. As a result, the remaining players still playing YGGDRASIL met their final day online. Donny’s YGGDRASIL avatar is a Lightning Dragonoid called Tempest. Dragonoids are a subspecies that are related to the mighty Dragons, signified by their mighty wings and proud but violent demeanor. Dragonoids possess skills in both magic and weapons, so there is very little Dragonoids cannot do and their close relationship to Dragons makes them all the stronger for it. Some Dragonoids are born with a blessing that allows them to master a certain school of magic, but in return, this makes them more vulnerable to other certain magics. Dragonoids are a subspecies with certain benefits and drawbacks. There are several different types of Dragonoids: Water Dragonoids, Lightning Dragonoids, Holy Dragonoids, and Fire Dragonoids. After playing YGGDRASIL as a solo player for 5 years as a Lizardman, Tempest first joined the guild Ainz Ooal Gown after he helped Peroroncino fight off some human players that ambushed him, the guild then welcomed Tempest as a member. Tempest became friends with everyone in the guild but Momonga became his best friend and they spent 5 years adventuring together. Momonga is the person that Tempest played with the most. Momonga helped Tempest evolve from a Lizardman into a dragon by aiding him in acquiring the Book of the Lightning Dragonoid that allowed him to change his racial class. He killed Odin to acquire the World Item Gungnir. Tempest serves as Ainz Ooal Gown’s champion, bodyguard, and general. He considers Ainz his brother and comrade in arms. Shalltear Bloodfallen has a crush on Tempest because she’s drawn to his rugged face, sharp teeth, dangerous aura, yellow scales that surpass even the most dazzling gold coins, and the chance to ‘ride a dragon.’ Entoma Vasilissa Zeta is also attracted to Tempest because of the kindness he has shown toward her. Tempest lives on the 9th floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick in the Royal Suite, the floor of his room is made of expensive hardwood light in coloration, covered by a masterfully weaved carpet colored yellow and white. A thunderbolt symbol is entwined into the fabric, surrounded by unknown runes that are draconic in design. On the walls, several pictures of dragons and Norse Gods are hung. Accompanied by bookshelves settled on the ground. Near the walls and door frames, one full-body suit of white paladin armor with a Templar sword standing guard. At the top right side of the room is the dressing room and at the top left side is the bathroom. There’s a king-sized black divan bed, with silk blue sheets along with about 4 soft pillows, at the top middle side of the room. The divan bed is made of 2 main parts that join together via a bracket. The base of the divan bed is constructed with wooden material and sits on the floor directly. The bed base is almost 3 feet high with a lifting cover and provides ample space to store bedroom items in an organized way. There is a body length mirror by the right side of the bed and a dresser on the left side of the bed. Tempest gave the key to his room to Entoma because he entrusts her to guard his room while he is gone (especially from Shalltear). Tempest earned the title of “The Dragon of Disaster” because he inspires fear in all of Nazarick’s enemies and he’s also called “The King of the Storm” because of his mastery of weather magic. He calls his four NPCs (Lucifer Shadows, Belle von Bane, Heretic, and Toro), his “Horsemen of the Apocalypse” because he got that from an old movie he saw. Tempest's voice is deeper and more guttural as a Dragonoid.  
Appearance:  
Tempest is a 7-foot-tall Lightning Dragonoid with bright blue eyes, razor-sharp teeth in his mouth, a snout, yellow scales covering his body and a white underbelly, 1-meter long yellow wings large enough to fly that have veins of bright yellow lightning running through them, five yellow claws on his hands and feet, glowing blue lightning-shaped streaks on his cheeks, small curling horns around his brow, much like a ram, and a 3 foot long prehensile tail. Bright blue veins of lightning are apparent on his body, while bright yellow streaks of lightning flash from the spikes on his back to the ones on his head. He wears full, golden plate armor with the pauldrons in the shape of dragonheads. He has a helmet in the shape of a dragon’s head with a closed maw much like his own and the chest plate was decorated with the image of a rising dragon. Tempest sometimes wears a white cloak with his golden armor. His weapon was a colossal double-edged greatsword called Jörmungandr, with a wide blade that is as tall as Tempest himself. It is relatively simple compared to other weapons with the hilt simply consisting of a simple handguard and a round head for a pommel. The blade is dark blue except around the edges, which are steel grey. Tempest can wield his greatsword with just one hand. Tempest keeps this greatsword in a sheath on his back.  
His "Human form," which he calls “Cloud,” is a Caucasian child who is the same height as Mare, with nicely combed dark-hair, hazel eyes, wears a fine white mage robe made of silk (that he created with his [Create Greater Item] spell), a pair of white leather boots, his adventurer plate necklace around his neck, and carry’s a silver staff with the tip culminating in a lightning bolt (that he created with his [Create Greater Item] spell).He has the voice of a 13-year-old while in his human form.  
His “Dragon form” is 4 meters tall with four legs, five claws on each limb, has gold-colored scales, two small curved gold horns on the top of his head (one on the left side and one on the right side), and a white underbelly. The claws on his feet are the same color. He has bright azure eyes, with glowing lime-green lightning-shaped streaks on his cheeks, along with a diamond on his forehead that also glows lime green. The inside of his mouth is a bright yellow while craggy neon-yellow horns jut out of the back of his head. Similar craggy spikes with blue insides run down his spine until the base of his tail; these spikes also jut out of the top of his legs. His wings look rough and torn, bright topaz craggy spikes jut out of the apex and the tip of the last wing bone, while the flaps in between are a similar color, yet ragged and torn, with veins of pale green lightning running through them. Bright blue veins of lightning are apparent on his body, while bright yellow streaks of lightning flash from the spikes on his back to the spikes on his head.  
Personality:  
Tempest acts as the yang to Ainz’s yin, while Ainz is polite, calm, cautious, tactful, pragmatic, selfish, ambitious, and relies on magic; Tempest is blunt, impulsive, short-tempered, combative, loyal, honorable, humble, and prefers brute force. Tempest is the only one in Nazarick that Ainz considers his equal and true friend. Tempest has no interest in ruling as he prefers to fight, but he’ll gladly help his friend Ainz achieve his ambitions by any means necessary. Tempest greatly cares for all the Nazarick NPCs, considering them family as he sees them as the children of his guildmates, but he finds their overprotectiveness to be smothering. Tempest has a particularly big soft spot for Aura and Mare because he finds them adorable. Tempest greatly loves his 4 personal NPCs as if they were his children, but he can get frustrated with Belle’s coldness, Lucifer’s lack of focus, Heretic’s passiveness, and Toro’s overzealousness. While in his human form Tempest likes to sit on Toro’s shoulder. Tempest feels no guilt when he commits murder, only shock because his apex predator status makes it easier for him to prey on weaker opponents. Tempest’s [Draconic Passion] passive skill amplifies his emotions, particularly his anger, it makes it easier for people to infuriate him. This is a double-edged sword because while it makes him more empathetic than Ainz it also makes him more impulsive so he’s at risk of giving into a murderous rage. In a way, this makes him more dangerous than Ainz because his rashness and violent temper make him more unpredictable and harder to reason with.

Trivia:  
-Tempest became the first and only Demi-Human member of Ainz Ooal Gown when he first joined the guild as a Lizardman but then he became a Dragonoid, a heteromorph.  
-Tempest’s racial and job classes give him a natural affinity for air magic.  
-The [Disciple of Thor] job class grants Tempest the skills to summon his air creatures. Not only did it make his summons stronger by default, but a passive from the same job class also makes them even stronger if they’re fighting in Tempest’s presence. But it has drawbacks, skill itself has a cooldown of about 15 minutes and he can only summon 2 air creatures at a time. -Tempest gave a [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown] and World Item to each of his 4 NPCs.  
-Tempest is an advocate of true gender equality.  
-His avatar name “Tempest” means “a violent windy storm,” which relates to his affinity for air magic.  
-His adventurer name “Cloud” is “a visible mass of condensed water vapor floating in the atmosphere, typically high above the ground.”  
-He possesses three forms: a human form, a dragon form, and a Dragonoid form. He can shapeshift between forms. In the game, this basically translated to stat increases though, but it’s different in the real world.  
-In his Dragon and Dragonoid forms, Tempest can exhale a stream of lightning.  
-Tempest lightning alternates between being colored either blue or yellow.  
-Tempest gave Demiurge a spare Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown that he was keeping in his inventory.  
-In YGGDRASIL, Tempest was hunted down mercilessly by human players because he played as a Dragonoid after he first started playing as a Lizardman for five years. Heteromorphic beings like the members of the Ainz Ooal Gown guild were attacked by players playing as humans because of several factors like the fact that certain job classes could only be gained by killing Heteromorphic players and that just made Heteromorphics kill on sight for most players.  
-While in their Cloud and Nabe adventurer personas, Tempest and Narberal Gamma have registered with the Magician’s Guild.  
-Back in YGGDRASIL, Tempest spent most of his time exploring the game much like a real adventurer. It was how he discovered most of his racial and job levels. Sometimes he and Ainz would go on adventures together. He became famous in the community for being the player who killed Thor by himself. That’s how he got his [Disciple of Thor] job class, especially before the World Tournament began.  
-Tempest killed Odin to acquire the World Item Gungnir.  
-Tempest gave up the [World Champion] job class, the same job class his friend Touch Me has, to become a member of the Dragon race.  
-Tempest won the World Champion tournament in YGGDRASIL. He was the World Champion of Asgard.  
-Tempest likes to play as a warrior-type character because he enjoys fighting up close and personal.  
-Tempest has a deep hatred of Frost Giants and Lizardmen because of his negative experiences with them in YGGDRASIL.  
-Tempest knows more spells than just Air spells. He just can’t cast any other elemental spells.  
-Tempest likes to keep his helmet and white cloak in his inventory.  
-Tempest has a silver key that unlocks his room. He normally keeps it in his inventory but while he’s out adventuring and exploring he entrusts it to Entoma so she can guard his room (especially from Shalltear).  
-Tempest is mostly a physical warrior but by New World standards, he’s also a strong mage simply because he can cast spells above 3rd tier. Tempest is a warrior class type with strong Air magic and his gear and stats represent that. He isn’t supposed to be quick or possess high magical defense.  
-Tempest calls killing spawned monsters and taking the items they dropped the YGGDRASIL equivalent of farming mobs for gold and materials.  
-Tempest doesn’t believe in God because he’s a nihilist. While his parents were deeply religious Roman Catholics, Donny just didn’t buy into that stuff because he thought, “What God would allow the world to be turned into a dump?” Tempest became increasingly cynical because of the pollution of his world and all the bullying he received in school while growing up. To Tempest nothing matters, everyone dies, and life has no meaning. All religion is fake. We will all be lost to the sands of time, dead and forgotten. To him, nothing matters except whether you decide to make a choice or not.  
-Tia of Blue Rose, the ninja with the blue ribbons, has a crush on Tempest because she is a shotacon who likes young boys (according to the Web Novel). Although, she also has an interest in Heretic/Kato, but he doesn’t care since he’s not interested in a relationship with a filthy organic.  
-He enjoys teasing Ainz by calling him: “Skeletor,” “Bone Man,” “Bone Daddy,” “Papa Bones,” “Jack Skellington,” and “Momo.”  
-Tempest is the only Supreme Being off Albedo’s hit list because she’s grateful to him for his loyalty to Momonga and she can tell his presence here makes Momonga happy, but she won’t hesitate to kill him if he ever betrays Momonga.  
-Tempest’s human form looks similar to what he looked like in real life but just much shorter and younger.  
-Tempest’s summoning skills aren’t as good as Ainz’s, and his summons tend to be weaker than Ainz’s summons.  
-According to Narberal Gamma, Elementalists are listed as arcane magic casters that specialize in the use of a particular element. In other words, all sorts of elemental damages done with spells were counted as magic attacks. For hybrids between magic caster and warrior, it can also be counted as physical attacks if the weapon they are using is elemental. According to the Pleiades, further specialization within a specific elementalism can be made such as in the case with Evileye's use of crystals. While so, other elementalist types ranged from aspects like acid, poison, gravity, and so on.  
-Both Shalltear Bloodfallen and Entoma Vasilissa Zeta are attracted to Tempest.  
-Shalltear is infatuated with Tempest just like she is with Momonga because, she was made by Peroroncino so it’s not really a surprise that she’s a dracophiliac or a zoophiliac.  
-Entoma is in love with Tempest because he is very king to her.  
-He has created 4 NPCs: Lucifer Shadows, Belle von Bane, Heretic, and Toro. But he calls them his “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” because it sounds cool.  
-His ideal woman would be warm, caring, protective…with a wild side.  
-As Entoma’s feelings for Tempest become clearer the NPCs will become more supportive of her pursuit of him because, in their eyes, if the Supremes Beings can create life out of nothing (meaning them) then who’s to say they can’t procreate with someone who’s of a completely different species?  
-As Tempest spends more time in the New World, he’ll become more dragon-like. Meaning he’ll become more greedy, merciless, and something of a Darwinist who sees the death of weaklings as the natural order of things (Dragons are apex predators after all).  
-As for Tempest’s morals, he doesn’t believe in concepts like “good” or “evil” because he sees them as worthless labels invented by simple-minded morons that only see the world in black and white, which is abhorrent to Tempest. Sure, Tempest knows that some people are genuinely decent, and some people are genuinely scum, but he knows that people do good and bad things for selfish reasons. Everyone has good and evil in them as far as he’s concerned.  
-Narberal, Heretic, and Toro joined Tempest’s and Ainz’s adventuring party because Tempest thinks it’s important to have a well-balanced team with Ainz (as Momon) and Toro (as Minos) as the front-line tanks, Narberal (as Nabe) and Tempest (as Cloud) as the support party member mages with offensive and defensive magic, and Heretic (as Kato) is the thief.  
-The reason why Ainz and Tempest formed Team Darkness is that their objective was to become famous adventurers. They planned to live in a city such as E-Rantel for a while to better understand the norms of human society and assimilate to it. In addition, they want to avoid confronting humans as enemies and hence, the reason for their disguises. This was for the purpose of gathering more information about the New World and its inhabitants that they tend to encounter in their adventures. In order to carry out this sort of mission, they enlisted the help of Narberal Gamma, Toro, and Heretic as their adventurer partners in accompanying them during their journey to the fortress city of E-Rantel. Furthermore, the group disguised themselves as novice adventurers under alternative names which are Momon, Cloud, Nabe, Minos, and Kato respectively. At the same time, the five of them are equipped with lower-class gear rather than what they normally wear back at Nazarick.  
-Tempest was the one who convinced Ainz to let Toro and Heretic become their adventurer partners along with Narberal Gamma by pointing out that a well-balanced party will draw us less unwanted attention since people would get suspicious if a party consisted of only a knight and two Elementalists arcane magic casters.  
-Momon and Cloud did not name the group "Darkness" from the start. It was just a common name originating from Momon’s jet-black armor, and they eventually accepted it as the proper name.  
-On several occasions, Nabe tends to make the common mistake of not addressing Momon or Cloud properly until she corrects herself a moment later.  
-Pandora's Actor and Belle von Bane are used as body doubles for the Adventurer personas "Momon" and “Cloud,” whenever Ainz or Tempest is not around to be part of the group. Pandora's Actor and Belle also fill in for Ainz and Tempest when their Nazarick personas need to make a public appearance whenever they're busy posing as adventurers.  
-In a short amount of time while they are new adventurers, the adventurer group, "Darkness" was able to quickly ascend from the first rank of being a copper to mithril and then finally its final rank, adamantite. The group have managed to skip ranks rather than going through it by order accordingly.  
-Unknown to the public, it seems the adventurer group, "Darkness" is the only one right now who is completely made up of non-human individuals.  
-Ainz and Tempest’s adventuring party, Team Darkness, will be called nicknames by the masses:  
-Ainz Ooal Gown/Momon: The Dark Hero  
-Tempest/Cloud: The Grand Magic Caster  
-Narberal Gamma/Nabe: The Beautiful Princess  
-Heretic/Kato: The One-Eyed Archer  
-Toro/Minos: The Immovable Mountain  
-There is a symbolic meaning to the drawbacks of Tempest’s [Draconic Passion]. Lightning is associated with the weather, which is seen as unpredictable and uncontrollable. Tempest’s mood swings are similar to how the weather can change quickly, one-minute calm and the next minute violent.  
-An Elementalist is a humanoid that has been infused with the power of the elemental planes. An air Elementalist has become one with the wind and seeks new and exciting things to keep their curiosity sated.  
-Air Magic is an offensive-oriented attribute. The spells inside this attribute generally deal lightning damage and have armor penetration, most of these spells deal damage to a single foe but there are some spells that can hit multiple foes. Air Magic also has spells that improve the mobility of allies and has multiple spells that can knock down enemies. Many spells found inside this attribute can inflict blind and cracked armor. Air magic is effective against high armored enemies.  
-In “Isekai Quartet,” Tempest is in Class 2 with Ainz, the Floor Guardians, and his four NPCs. Tempest has become good friends with his classmates Subaru, Kazuma, and Tanya. Tempest has a tendency to smack Aqua in the head when she does something stupid like attack Ainz and he hits Darkness whenever she does something perverted like talk about her masochistic tendencies. Tempest finds Beatrice obnoxious because of her stuck-up attitude, so he has no problem snarking at her.  
-Every basic racial class and job class (not rare) can be leveled to 15, the High ones to 10, the rare ones to 5.  
Age: 23  
Gender: Male  
Height: 213cm/7 ft (as a Dragonoid), 92cm (as a Human), 4 meters/13 ft (as a Dragon)  
Affiliation: Great Tomb of Nazarick, Ainz Ooal Gown  
Family: Unnamed Father and Unnamed Mother  
Titles: The Dragon of Disaster and The King of the Storm  
Job/Occupation: Adventurer, Champion, General, and Bodyguard/Shield of Ainz Ooal Gown  
Role: Hybrid class of Warrior and Elementalist/Arcane Magic Caster/Magic Knight  
Residence: Royal Suite on the 9th of the Great Tomb of Nazarick  
Karma: Positive 150: Good  
NPC Created: Lucifer Shadows, Belle von Bane, Heretic, and Toro  
Hobby: Fighting, Sparring, Hunting Big Game, and Training  
Voice Actor: Idrissa Akuna Elba (who voiced Chief Bogo in the film “Zootopia”)

Class Build  
Total Level : 100

Race: Lightning Dragonoid  
Race Type: Heteromorphic

Racial Level  
Lightning Dragonoid (15)  
Stormbringer Dragon (10)  
Wyrm of Asgard (10)  
Thunder Dragon Lord (5)  
Racial Level Total (40)

Job Level  
Fighter (10)  
Sword Master (10)  
Sword Saint (10)  
Knight of Asgard (5)  
Magic Knight (10)  
Elementalist: Air (10)  
Disciple of Thor (5)  
Job/Class Level Total (60)

Former Racial Classes  
Lizardman (15)  
Lizardman Lord (10)

Stats:  
HP : 85  
MP : 80  
Phys. Atk. : 100  
Phys. Def. : 85  
Agility : 70  
Mag. Atk. : 85  
Mag. Def. : 65  
Resistance: 90  
Special Ability: 90  
Total: 750

Abilities and Powers:  
The maximum number of spells a level 100 player could learn was 300. Tempest is an elementalist who specializes in the Elemental Magic of Air. While this makes all his Air-related spells more powerful, it weakens all his other magic. His Job Levels allow him to wield weapons and wear armor. His abilities as a mage are average at best. Other than Air Magic, most of Tempest’s spells are pertained to combat only. Tempest can fly using the pair of wings on his back. He is able to make use of his tail as an offensive-weapon to sweep or knock his enemies away when they attempt to attack him from behind. Tempest is vulnerable to earth element magic.  
In his “Dragon form,” Tempest’s stats are increased by a sizable margin and allowed him to cast certain spells like [Judgment of Asgard], an exclusive Dragon-only super-tier spell that causes massive magic air damage, but his Dragon form has a 72-hour Cooldown.  
In his “Human form,” Tempest’s stats and skills don’t change but he can no longer equip the Armor of the Thunderer and Jörmungandr because he is no longer a Dragonoid. But he can still use other weapons.

Thunder Dragon Lord Skills:  
Attack Damage IV  
Ability Damage IV  
Brutality of the Ancients  
Create High Tier Air Elementals (4/day): Tempest can create both a Primal Air Elemental or Lesser Air Elemental by using this racial skill. The upper-tier air elementals that are made with this skill are only level 70 at best. However, if he divides those up into two uses, he could make air elementals of roughly level 90. Thus, it allows him to summon either the thief-type Lesser Air Elemental or strength-focused Primal Air Elemental types under his command. If Tempest were to use his experience points, he can even create another level 90 monster like a Storm Dragon. He can also use this racial skill to create a level 45 Electro Sleipnir, level 50 Air Valkyrie of Clan Thor, level 70 Air Lizardman Shaman, level 80 Lightning Elf, and level 85 Lighting Lord Thor.  
Create Middle Tier Air Elementals (12/day): Tempest can create a Lesser Air Warg, Volt Troll, Lightning Djinn, or Static Cerberus by using this racial skill. It can be used on corpses as a special catalyst to keep the Volt Troll or Lightning Djinn around until they are killed in battle. It is an ability to create air elementals from Level 25 to 40.  
Create Low Tier Air Elementals (20/day): Tempest can create an Air Dwarf, Thunder Dragon Hatchling, and Greater Air Warg by using this racial skill. It can be used to convert dead creatures ranging from all sorts of skeletal creatures like humans, beasts, giants, to dragons into air elementals. It is an ability to create air elementals from level 10 to 24.  
Draconic Battle Cry: A passive skill that buffs the physical abilities of all allies.  
Draconic Passion: A passive skill that makes Tempest’s physical attacks and Air magic stronger as well as surround himself in electricity the angrier he gets. Because of that, he will slowly lose control of his mind and become unable to hold back his urge to slaughter. Without those mental brakes, Tempest would indiscriminately attack anything he sees. To cancel this ability after it activates, Tempest needs to either calm down or have his electricity stripped from him.  
Dragon Breath: This allows Tempest to breathe lightning from his mouth.  
Dragon Claw: A skill that increases the physical damage Tempest deals.  
Dragon Metamorphosis: This allows Tempest to switch between his Human, Dragon, and Dragonoid forms.  
Dragon Thrust: This increases Tempest’s flight speed.  
Dragonic Presence I: Has a chance (if not resisted by ability, equipment, level difference, etc.) of causing Fear. Fear refers to an abnormal status of being afraid, which inflicts a penalty to all actions. Besides inflicting fear, it could reduce the stats of its victims. Normally, Dragonic Presences would not have any effect on level 100 NPCs, but when equipped with certain magical items like Jörmungandr its effect can be strengthened.  
Dragonic Presence II: Has a chance of causing Panic. Panic is a more severe version of Fear, caused by stacking additional Fear effects on each other. Anyone afflicted by that status would want to flee the ability user at all costs ― in other words, they would be unable to take any combat-related actions against that person.  
Dragonic Presence III: Has a chance of causing Confusion. This can only happen unless the target does not have any recovery measures prepare.  
Dragonic Presence IV: Has a chance of causing Insanity. Insanity was an extremely annoying bad status, being a permanent version of Confusion. It could not be removed without magic from a third party.  
Dragonic Presence V: Has a chance of causing Instant Death.  
Electric Absorption: A passive skill that absorbs air attacks and electricity to replenish Tempest’s MP. It absorbs any and all air attacks and electricity thrown at Tempest.  
Electric Aura: The user can release and surround themselves in/with electricity for defensive and/or offensive purposes, possibly becoming almost untouchable and granting them various abilities/attacks. The aura may also give the user enhanced physical capabilities such as speed, strength, and durability. Normally, Tempest has control over my [Electric Aura] thanks to his Armor of the Thunderer but if he’s in his human form, the only thing he can do is lower the effects to their bare minimum, which amounted to just surrounding him like a force field. Anyone who touched him would just receive a mild tingling sensation.  
Electric Immunity  
Electricity Defense  
Electrical Healing  
Electrical Telepathy  
Electromagnetic Vision  
High Tier Magic Immunity III: Nullifies all low tier spells.  
High Tier Physical Immunity III: Nullifies all low-level attacks (below level 60).  
Intelligence Boost  
Rage of the Storm  
Reptilian Blessing: Can sense other cold-blooded heteromorphs such as Lizardmen and Dragons.  
Roar of the Beast  
Speak Draconic Tongues  
Status Damage IV  
Storm Control

Basic Lightning Dragonoid Race Traits:  
Critical Hit Vulnerability III  
Dark Vision  
Double Damaged by Ice  
Dragon Speed IV  
Dragon Strength IV  
Dragonic Rejuvenation III: Tempest’s health regenerates fast.  
Elemental Resistance III: Grants strong resistance to damage from Elemental Magic.  
Energy Drain Vulnerability  
Enhanced Senses: Tempest’s sight, hearing, and smell are vastly superior than a humans.  
Ferocity Amplified  
Magic Skin V: Grants strong resistance to magic.  
Necromancy Vulnerability III  
Paralysis Immunity  
Piercing Damage Vulnerability III  
Recover by Positive Energy  
Slashing Damage Vulnerability III  
Tough Skin V: Grants strong resistance to physical attacks.  
Vulnerability to Earth Element Magic V

Class Abilities:  
Air Dominance Over Water: Tempest’s Air spells deal more damage against Water Elemental Magic Casters.  
Air Summon Strengthening: The various kinds of Air entities Tempest could create for summoning are buffed or enhanced than their original.  
Draconic Knight: Similar to the Armored Mage job class, this ability enables the user to freely equip armors without class restrictions getting in the way like most Arcane Magic Casters.  
Dragon Lord: Tempest has the power to mentally dominate the dragon's state of mind and soul. The enslaved dragon will acknowledge the user before him as its controller, its Master. With that dragon under his control, it could not hide or lie about anything from Tempest when questioned by him who is in the position as master. However, there are limits to [Dragon Lord] as for how many Tempest can control, both in upper limits and total numbers. The same could be said with how powerful of a dragon can be dominated. More so, the [Dragon Lord] skill is only effective on dragons weaker than the user. Once under the user's control, the enslaved dragon would have no chance to shake it off so long as users like Tempest did not want to relinquish control.  
Dragonic Aura  
Instant Air Magic Enhancement: Tempest’s Air spells deal more damage than the spells originally do.  
Weather God

Active Skills:  
Electrowebbing: Tempest attacks and captures his opponents using an electric net. This lowers their Agility stat.  
Lightning Rod: Draws in all Electric-type moves to boost Tempest’s Mag. Atk. stat.

Passive Skills:  
Electric Drive: Boosts the Agility stat when Tempest is hit by an Electric-type move.  
Galvanize: Air spells deal extra damage.  
Power Up: Tempest's summons are stronger than the average summon and they become more powerful if they fight in his presence. Static: When Tempest is hit by a move that makes contact, there is a 30% chance that the attacking opponent will become paralyzed. If Tempest is hit by a multi-strike move that makes contact, each hit has an independent chance of activating this passive skill.  
Volt Absorption: Restores HP if hit by an Electric-type move.

Super-Tier Magic:  
Judgment of Asgard: An exclusive Dragon-only super-tier spell that causes massive magic air damage. Tempest can only cast this while in his Dragon form.  
Ragnarök: With the World Item Gungnir, Tempest can cast this spell which causes a massive explosion that instantly obliterates the area it was aimed at, it can even instantly kill a level 100 Player or NPC.  
The Storm King: A Dragon-only spell that allows Tempest to alter the weather and cause terrible disasters.  
Thor’s Wrath: A 10th tier spell that allows Tempest to summon a massive thunderstorm.

Normal Tier Spells:  
Air Siphon: This spell is an active version of the passive [Electric Absorption] skill, it consumes air spells and electricity to replenish MP. It can only absorb the ‘air effects’ that very few magic attacks left.  
All Appraisal Magic Item: Besides identifying the target item, this spell would even tell its caster about a magic item’s creator and manufacturer.  
Armageddon - Evil: A 10th tier spell that summons an army of demons. According to the standards of YGGDRASIL players, said demons are not considered to be strong. Since demonic summons has the tendency to go berserk, the spell is usually used to obtain sacrifices for rituals and skills.  
Call Greater Thunder: It is the most advanced single-target lightning spell of the 9th tier. An enormous thunderbolt is created and fused from multiple strands of lightning that can pierce through their target.  
Call The Lightning Lord: A summoning spell that’s used to summon Lightning Lord Thor.  
Chain Dragon Lightning: A 7th tier spell that shoots dragon-shaped lightning towards the target. Let alone its intended target, it can also strike other enemies nearby. It effectively works great against metal armor.  
Charm Person  
Complete Invisibility: It is a spell that is far superior to 'Invisibility,' a spell that temporarily renders the caster invisible or undetectable to conventional vision. It makes Tempest completely invisible to anyone but those who use specialized magic to see him. The highest-ranked undead could even see through this spell's effect.  
Control Amnesia: A 10th tier spell that grants the user some degree of control over the target's memories. Attempting to master new techniques, Ainz has done several experiments on lab rats like CZ2I28 Delta while he practiced using the spell multiple times. To some degree, if used on an NPC, he is able to manipulate information originated from the NPC's backstory set by their creator.  
Control Cloud: A 4th tier spell that allows the user to manipulate the clouds.  
Control Weather: A 6th tier spell that allows the user to manipulate the weather.  
Create Fortress: A 10th tier spell that summons forth a mighty fortress or a 30 meters tall tower out of thin air. In YGGDRASIL, anyone on the same team could open those doors with a touch. All others would have to break them down.  
Create Greater Item: This spell creates magically-made items such as armors, swords, halberds, and so on for a magic caster like Momonga to be able to equip it freely. However, there were only five spells Ainz could use while wearing the armor created from magic and one of them is 'Perfect Warrior.' It can also create more mundane items such as furniture, e.g. a bed. In the Web Novel, it is a 7th tier spell.  
Create Greater Magical Item: This 8th tier spell allows Tempest to create magically-made enchanted weapons such as a Magic Gun.  
Cure Poison  
Detect Life  
Detect Magic: The spell is used to detect magical traps or magic items that are hidden in the midst of the user's presence.  
Discern Enemy: This spell allows the user to identify the enemy's estimated level.  
Distant Vision: A spell that would display what it saw on a flat, magical screen. The screen could also be expanded or shrunken at will.  
Draconic Power  
Dragonbane  
Dragon Lightning: A 5th tier spell that shoots out a lightning bolt in the form of a dragon, that then seeks out its target.  
Drain Touch: A 3rd tier spell that not only inflicts damage but restores the mana of the spellcaster by absorbing and transferring mana from multiple targets via physical contact of the hand. When the spellcaster makes physical contact with the target, the body part they’re touching that person with produces a bright purple glow. This spell works differently in the New World, in addition to mana, it can also absorb and transfer stamina, vitality, and strength from multiple targets.  
Electro Burst: A 7th tier spell that sends out a burst of a sphere of electrical energy from around the caster's body.  
Electro Whip: A 6th tier spell that creates a cord of electric snakes on Tempest’s arm. This cord can be used to grab enemies and damage them. In YGGDRASIL, it was simply a way for Tempest to bring the target in close range, for him to deal the most damage with Jörmungandr but in the New World it seems to work like a real whip.  
Electrosphere: A 3rd tier spell that causes a sphere made of electricity to materialize besides the caster’s shoulders.  
Energy Immunity – Electricity  
Explosion (Web Novel Only): It is an 8th tier spell used to damage a foe.  
Fly: A 3rd tier spell that gives the caster the ability to fly.  
Focus Magic: A 7th tier spell that can be used on an ally.  
Greater Break Item: This spell is seemingly capable of destroying a magical item.  
Greater Magic Shield  
Greater Magic Vision  
Greater Resistance  
Greater Teleportation: A 7th tier spell that allows instantaneous transition without restriction to distance.  
Invisibility: A spell that temporarily renders the caster invisible or undetectable to conventional vision.  
Lesser Mind Protection  
Life Essence: Allows the caster to view the health values of an enemy.  
Lightning: A 3rd tier spell that shoots a bolt of lightning from the tip of the caster's finger. It is effective against targets wearing metal armor. The lightning generates and pierces in a straight line.  
Lightning Arrow: It allows the caster to fire three arrows made of electricity.  
Lightning Bolt: This spell creates bluish-white lightning created that can pierce its intended target.  
Lightning Claw: A spell that casts a stroke of electricity in the shape of a beast talons through the air and does electric damage to an intended target.  
Locate Object: This spell is used to detect the location of an object.  
Lopsided Duel: A 3rd-tier spell that bounds the caster to the target such that whenever the target tried to flee by teleportation, both caster and target would appear in the same place. It could even ignore the target’s use of [Delay Teleportation] and teleport both of them to the designated location. However, this spell had a fatal flaw. If the target teleported among its friends, then the caster would be brought to the same place thanks to the binding, whereupon he would be surrounded. This spell also had the advantage that if the caster teleported away, his opponent would not be teleported with it, which made fleeing easy.  
Mage Hand: Combat Meditation: A 4th tier spell that allows the caster to enter a meditative position that considerably boosts the morale, stamina, and overall battle prowess of an individual's allies while simultaneously reducing the opposition's combat-effectiveness by eroding their will to fight.  
Mage Hand: Lightning Torture: A 4th tier offensive spell that the caster can use to torture, disfigure, and even kill their victims. Blue in color, the caster shoots magic lightning from their hands by calling on their hatred and aggressive feelings.  
Mage Hand: Shield: A 4th tier defensive spell that allows the caster to create a nearly impenetrable shield of magical energy around them in the form of a bubble.  
Mage Hand: Telekinetic Choke: A 4th tier spell where the caster uses magic to choke or strangle a victim. This is used to intimidate and even kill their opponents.  
Mage Hand: Telekinetic Push: A 4th tier spell that is both an offensive and defensive technique. It allows the caster to move objects with magic and it is accomplished with a forward hand gesture. It could be used to varying degrees, from simply nudging or softly moving targets away.  
Mage Hand: Weapon Control: A 4th tier spell where the caster throws their sword in a direction, it spins, taking out enemies and then returns to the user's hand.  
Magic Destruction: Destroys an object made by magic. The success rate of this spell was directly dependent on the spell-casting ability of its caster.  
Magic Shield  
Mana Essence: Allows the user to learn enemy’s remaining MP.  
Mass Dominate Person (Web Novel Only): A spell which brainwashes multiple foes simultaneously to do the user's bidding.  
Mass Fly: Gives a group of people the ability to fly.  
Mass Hold Species: Constricts a large number of creatures, rendering them unable to move.  
Mass Targeting  
Message: In the Web Novel, the spell is classified as part of the 2nd tier. This spell was used to communicate in the game. Normally, its use was restricted to certain places and conditions. The problem was that this spell was originally designed to communicate with other players, and it could not reach a GM. When one used the [Message] spell, as long as the other party was within the game, one would hear a call tone. Otherwise, there would be no sound, and the spell would immediately terminate. In the New World, the effect from this spell's usage felt like something was constantly reaching out, as though looking for something to connect to.  
Oderless: By using this 1st tier spell, the caster can hide their scent.  
Paralysis: Causes paralysis in the target, limiting or preventing them of physical movement, though slight physical functions are still possible, such as turning their head or speaking.  
Paralyzing Touch: A target becomes unable to move via physical contact by the spellcaster. This spell has no effect on undead.  
Perfect Unknowable: A 9th tier spell used to make the user invisible to the naked eye. It can also erase one's traces and sounds including the pitch of the user's voice from being heard, making the magic caster very difficult to detect if they did not have very high-level thief-type job classes.  
Protection Energy – Electricity: Provides limited protection from electric attacks.  
Quick March: In the Web Novel, this 1st tier spell could instantly increase an individual's movement speed by about 20%.  
Reality Slash: A 10th tier spell that is top class in damage dealing but consumes a lot of mana. The spell is considered to be a lesser version of 'World Break'. By using "Triplet Maximize Magic," Ainz creates three attacks that slashed space itself. It is capable of cleaving through the very fabric of space, and a hit from this powerful attack spell could disregard virtually any form of magical defense.  
Regenerate: A spell that provides slow healing over time.  
Resist Break: Decrease the foe's Magical resistance.  
See Through  
Sense Enemy  
Shark Cyclone: A spell that invokes a tornado (100 meters high and with a 50-meter diameter). Within the tornado lie 6-meter-long sharks waiting to devour anyone unlucky enough to be sucked inside.  
Shield Wall: Creates an invisible barrier around the target.  
Shock Lance: A 4th-tier physical spell that deals lightning damage.  
Silent Time Stop: No attacks would work while time was stopped.  
Sleep: In the Web Novel, it is a 1st tier spell that forces a person to have the desire of sleeping.  
Summon Air Dwarf  
Summon Air Lizardman Shaman  
Summon Air Valkyrie of Clan Thor  
Summon Greater Air Warg  
Summon Lesser Air Elemental  
Summon Lesser Air Warg  
Summon Lightning Djinn  
Summon Lightning Elf  
Summon Monster 1st: This spell could allow the user to summon beings like a low-level Lesser Air Elemental or Water Elemental. Elementals summoned by first tier scroll only exist for a short time.  
Summon Primal Air Elemental  
Summon Storm Dragon  
Summon Storm Griffin  
Summon Thunder Dragon Hatchling  
Summon Thunderwing Pegasus  
Summon Volt Troll  
Teleportation: A 5th tier spell that allows the caster to teleport over a distance.  
Thunder Bolt: Fires a bolt of electricity.  
Thunder Bomb: A 6th tier spell that launches a sphere of pure energy.  
Thunder Grenade: Fires a sphere of thunder.  
Thunderball: A 3rd tier area-of-effect spell.  
Thunderlance: A 2nd tier spell.  
Thundersphere: Fires a ball of electricity.  
Time Stop: A 10th tier spell that stops the enemy for a specific amount of time.  
Wall of Protection from Arrows  
Wall of Stone: Surrounds the user with stone walls, protecting them from damage.  
Whirlwind: An 8th tier air spell that summons a mighty tornado.

Summons:  
Tempest possesses a few spells that allow him to summon 15 different creatures to aid him in battle. He prefers to only use summons when he feels too lazy to attack an enemy himself. However, due to his racial and job classes, he can only summon elementals associated with the element of air. Elementals are creatures who specialize in a particular type of elemental magic. He can only summon 15 air creatures. Unlike YGGDRASIL, they’re only temporary in the New World unless he uses a corpse to make them permanent.

High Tier Summons:  
Storm Dragon: A level 90 summon that appears as a 12-feet tall ultramarine dragon that shoots thunder out of its mouth. This dragon’s stats are high because dragons are overpowered in YGGDRASIL.  
HP : 87  
MP : 73  
Phys. Atk. : 75  
Phys. Def. : 81  
Agility : 75  
Mag. Atk. : 71  
Mag. Def. : 85  
Resistance : 84  
Special Ability : 56  
Total : 687

Lightning Lord Thor: A level 85 summon that looks like an 8-ft tall warrior with red hair, silver armor, a red cape, and a large, square-headed gray sledgehammer.  
HP : 74  
MP : 55  
Phys. Atk. : 80  
Phys. Def. : 71  
Agility : 45  
Mag. Atk. : 50  
Mag. Def. : 70  
Resistance : 70  
Special Ability : 50  
Total : 565

Lightning Elf: A level 80 summon that has the appearance of a 5-feet tall elf with long white hair, pale skin, ivory armor, and carries a bow that shoots lightning arrows.  
HP : 57  
MP : 75  
Phys. Atk. : 44  
Phys. Def. : 50  
Agility : 62  
Mag. Atk. : 70  
Mag. Def. : 70  
Resistance : 51  
Special Ability : 67  
Total : 546

Air Lizardman Shaman: A level 70 summon that looks like a 7-foot tall albino lizardman that carries a wooden staff with a bull skull on the top, wears a green loincloth, feather headdress, and a fur coat made from a bear.  
HP : 65  
MP : 40  
Phys. Atk. : 50  
Phys. Def. : 60  
Agility : 35  
Mag. Atk. : 30  
Mag. Def. : 60  
Resistance : 55  
Special Ability : 35  
Total : 430

Air Valkyrie of Clan Thor: A level 50 summon that appears as a 6 feet, 3 inches tall adult female elf with beautiful braided brown hair and wears golden armor. She has yellow angel wings and carries a shield and mace that shoots lightning.  
HP : 45  
MP : 34  
Phys. Atk. : 48  
Phys. Def. : 40  
Agility : 38  
Mag. Atk. : 35  
Mag. Def. : 44  
Resistance : 50  
Special Ability : 30  
Total : 364

Greater Air Warg: A level 45 summon that appears as a huge 8-foot tall blue wolf with a mane of electricity and electric drool.  
HP : 36  
MP : 30  
Phys. Atk. : 40  
Phys. Def. : 32  
Agility : 45  
Mag. Atk. : 26  
Mag. Def. : 30  
Resistance : 31  
Special Ability : 25  
Total : 295

Middle Tier Summons:  
Storm Griffin: A level 40 summon that has the appearance of an 8-feet tall griffin that has the head, wings and feet of an eagle and the body and tail of a lion. It has a yellow beak. Its feathers are turquoise-colored while its lion body has white hair. Its front legs are purple-colored eagle feet that have four black talons each. It can shoot lightning out of its mouth. It is strong enough to lift a Death Knight and can be used as a mount.  
HP : 35  
MP : 20  
Phys. Atk. : 44  
Phys. Def. : 28  
Agility : 31  
Mag. Atk. : 24  
Mag. Def. : 36  
Resistance : 34  
Special Ability : 20  
Total : 272

Lightning Djinn: A level 35 summon that appears as an 8-foot tall very muscular legless blue genie made of air with four vicious long claw-like fingers on each hand, a goatee, a red turban on his head, two golden bracers on his arms, and a purple vest. This genie-like creature hovers everywhere it goes. It can’t be harmed by physical attacks, only magical attacks and specially enchanted weapons can harm its gas-like form. The Lightning Djinn is based on the Voidwalker monster from the “World of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne” online game and Genie from the movie “Aladdin.”  
HP : 30  
MP : 21  
Phys. Atk. : 33  
Phys. Def. : 27  
Agility : 28  
Mag. Atk. : 24  
Mag. Def. : 30  
Resistance : 35  
Special Ability : 23  
Total : 251

Volt Troll: A level 30 summon that is a 7-foot tall troll who specializes in air magic and melee combat.  
HP : 30  
MP : 25  
Phys. Atk. : 20  
Phys. Def. : 21  
Agility : 18  
Mag. Atk. : 25  
Mag. Def. : 22  
Resistance : 26  
Special Ability : 21  
Total : 208

Low Tier Summons:  
Lesser Air Warg: A level 25 summon that appears as a large 5-foot tall blue wolf with a mane of electricity and lightning drool.  
HP : 20  
MP : 15  
Phys. Atk. : 21  
Phys. Def. : 20  
Agility : 20  
Mag. Atk. : 15  
Mag. Def. : 17  
Resistance : 18  
Special Ability : 21  
Total : 167

Thunderwing Pegasus: A level 20 summon that looks like a 6-feet tall white horse with glowing navy-blue eyes, a mane made of electricity, and hooves coated with electricity. It breathes electricity. It can be used as a mount.  
HP : 18  
MP : 14  
Phys. Atk. : 20  
Phys. Def. : 14  
Agility : 14  
Mag. Atk. : 12  
Mag. Def. : 16  
Resistance : 14  
Special Ability : 14  
Total : 136

Thunder Dragon Hatchling: A level 15 summon that looks like a 3-foot tall yellow dragon. It can shoot lighting out of its mouth.  
HP : 12  
MP : 10  
Phys. Atk. : 7  
Phys. Def. : 10  
Agility : 7  
Mag. Atk. : 8  
Mag. Def. : 9  
Resistance : 8  
Special Ability : 5  
Total : 76

Air Dwarf: A level 10 summon that appears as a 4 ft, 10 in tall muscular bald elderly dwarf with armor, a handaxe, and a long white beard.  
HP : 7  
MP : 3  
Phys. Atk. : 8  
Phys. Def. : 10  
Agility : 3  
Mag. Atk. : 2  
Mag. Def. : 7  
Resistance : 7  
Special Ability : 2  
Total : 49

Spirits:  
Primal Air Elemental: A powerful 16 feet tall high-tier level 87 elemental spirit that is the incarnation of air. Primal Air Elemental is an evil spirit that resembles that of a humanoid tornado. Primal Air Elemental is a level 87 monster that is capable of manipulating air and electricity. Possessing extraordinary attack power and stamina, this monster can deal area-effect air damage. It's considered to be among the highest tier of Elementals. Tempest can summon one Primal Air Elemental a day.  
HP : 85  
MP : 50  
Phys. Atk. : 68  
Phys. Def. : 46  
Agility : 66  
Mag. Atk. : 73  
Mag. Def. : 71  
Resistance : 70  
Special Ability : 40  
Total : 570

Lesser Air Elemental: An 8 feet tall high-tier level 62 elemental spirit that is weaker than a Primal Air Elemental but is still quite formidable. It resembles the Primal Air Elemental but smaller and purple.  
HP : 60  
MP : 37  
Phys. Atk. : 51  
Phys. Def. : 40  
Agility : 41  
Mag. Atk. : 38  
Mag. Def. : 40  
Resistance : 50  
Special Ability : 35  
Total : 392

Powers:  
As he is declared by many to be one of the most powerful of the Supreme Beings, Tempest has shown numerous powers and abilities that make him live up to his titles:  
Superhuman Strength: Tempest has shown many occasions displaying strength beyond human capabilities. He was able to smash two angels down to the ground, crush Clementine's body into a bloody mess, as well as slash through an army of ogres and many more.  
Superhuman Speed: Tempest can move at such speed that surpasses human capabilities. Shalltear has so far demonstrated that she is the only being capable of keeping up with him.  
Superhuman Durability: Tempest has enhanced durability. It took the most powerful blast of an angel to inflict pain alone on him, which simply amused him. Clementine was also unable to inflict any pain upon him, both physically and magically.  
Magic: Tempest has a large arsenal of tier magic, which is what makes him a very powerful being. He has shown to cast a variety of magic which includes summoning the undead, bestowing powerful blasts that can create large craters, black holes that can suck up anything in an instant, spells that cause instant death, as well as magic skills that can increase his durability.  
Swordsmanship: Tempest has good capabilities of wielding and combating his opponents in swordsmanship.

Main Equipment:  
Adventurer Outfit: While posing as the adventurer “Cloud”, Tempest wears an elegant white mage robe made of silk (that he created with his [Create Greater Item] spell), a pair of white leather boots, his adventurer plate necklace around his neck, and carry’s a silver staff with the tip culminating in a lightning bolt (that he created with his [Create Greater Item] spell). The wizard staff has no magical properties and is just a powerless item. The white mage robe has the same defensive stats as the fully jet-black body armor Ainz wears when he assumes his adventurer persona “Momon.”  
Armor of the Thunderer: A full suit of armor that resembles a dragon. Only a Lightning Dragonoid can equip this item. It resembles a set of full, golden plate armor with the pauldrons in the shape of dragonheads. He has a helmet in the shape of a dragon’s head with a closed maw much like his own and the chest plate was decorated with the image of a rising dragon. Tempest sometimes wears a white cloak with his armor. The armor is a set, much like the 7 gems of the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, that drastically increased any and all air damage Tempest can do, but at the cost of making any other elemental spells he casts completely useless. It also lets him have much finer control over his passive skills like [Electric Aura] that he normally couldn’t turn off, but his armor not only allowed him to turn it off but increase its range and power. For example, his [Electricity Defense] usually only did a set amount of damage, but he could increase its damage output as long as he was touching a target. Tempest can’t equip Armor of the Thunderer when he is in his human form because he isn’t a Lightning Dragonoid anymore.  
Book of the Lightning Dragonoid: A racial class advancement item in YGGDRASIL that is written in English and Japanese. In YGGDRASIL, it was possible to change races, but in order to achieve a racial advancement, one must need to fulfill several conditions, and this would be irreversible. Thus, acquiring specific items are actually necessary in order to shift from one race to another. The Book of the Lightning Dragonoid is a fairly ancient volume, which gave off a musty smell. Surprisingly enough, the book itself was very sturdy, with no trace of being worm-eaten. The Book of the Lightning Dragonoid allows the player to advance his or her racial class into a Lightning Dragonoid. It also contains lore concerning the history of dragons. Tempest had used this item to evolve himself from a Lizardman into a Lightning Dragonoid.  
Box of Infinite Sweets: A small white box that is full of many different candies like chocolates and jelly beans. The box generated infinite amounts of different candies without cost but after 25 candy charges, it takes a day to cool down.  
Endless Bag: A magic item that appears as an average canvas bag, but it allows a person to put many items inside it without running out of storage space.  
Flight Necklace: A magical amulet that gives the user the ability to fly. It is a necklace in the shape of a bird’s wing. When wearing the necklace, if a user focused his/her awareness onto the item, it activates the power hidden inside which is the [Fly] spell. Once activated, the user will be able to fly high in the sky, reaching the clouds.  
Gargoyle Statue: In YGGDRASIL this is a stone figurine that resembles a gargoyle that is used to summon a team member or a friend from a different world.  
Gauntlet of Primary Colors: An eyecatching gauntlet that has a shiny gem set into the back of its hand. It is a superior piece of craftsmanship that is imbued with three spells:  
Body of Effulgent Beryl: A spell which reduced bludgeoning damage.  
Body of Effulgent Heliodor: A spell which reduced slashing damage.  
Body of Effulgent Aquamarine: A spell which reduced piercing damage. Thus, it could be said that it lessened all physical damage taken by the wearer.  
Normally speaking, these three spells would overwrite each other when cast and so they would not be able to coexist, but this gauntlet stood as an exception to that rule. In addition, each spell could completely negate one instance of the damage they resisted, and this item also retained that ability. This item is not without flaws. The item would break if any of the negation abilities are used. It also bore the extreme drawback of not being able to equip any other items to that item slot within four hours of it breaking. In addition, the activation of this item’s abilities is not up to the wearer; rather, it would automatically activate if a certain amount of damage is taken. Frankly speaking, it would be considered a trash item to players of Suzuki Satoru’s level.  
Ghillie Cloak: A magical item that looks like a tattered cape with cloth and strings dangling from it. This cloak is considered to be an item that conferred exceptional stealth capabilities. It is used as a safety precaution in case the wearer encounters a powerful enemy that they need to escape from. Once the user puts it on, even the level 100 player like Suzuki Satoru would see the wearer as becoming blurry. In a way, it was very effective against adversaries with low perceptive abilities. According to Suzuki Satoru, it was treated as almost being close to useless without concealment skills. The use of the name Ghillie could be a homage to the Ghillie Dhu a Scottish fae creature is known to live a concealed life in woodlands only showing itself in order to kill trespassers and act as the protectors of woodlands they reside.  
Gungnir: A World Item that Tempest acquired by killing Odin. It appears as a golden heavily rune engraved spear. It changes Tempest’s appearance to resemble Odin by turning his hair grey, putting on his left eye an eyepatch with runes engraved on it, turning his right eye a black color, and he wears black and golden ancient rune armor with two ravens on his shoulders. This world item allows Tempest to cast the super-tier spell [Ragnarök].  
Horn of the Gobling General: A minor expendable magic item from YGGDRASIL that could summon a Goblin Troop or through certain conditions, a Goblin Army. The item seems to be a simply made horn with a leather strap attached to it, wrapped in a slim ring of ornate design while still showing most of the horn's ivory. From a size comparison of the horn to Enri's bare hand, the horn is approximately 8-10 cm in length. Horn of the Goblin General is one of the few expendable items in the game that could not be converted into data crystals. By YGGDRASIL standards, the summoned goblins are weak and are normally only used to buy time for the summoner. However, in the New World, the item is viewed as a major breakthrough in magical summoning as the goblins have become permanent existences and capable of independent thought. The horn can only be used once; the item disappears after it serves its purpose.  
Infinity An item from YGGDRASIL that can be used to store other items. It looks like an ordinary backpack. Tempest has many of these containing various kinds of items for different uses. It was commonplace to use several of these rucksacks to organize the contents of one’s inventory. YGGDRASIL players commonly put their immediate-use items into this bag, because the items within it could be assigned to several hotkeys in the game interface. Although it is called infinite, it can only hold a limit of 500 kilograms worth of items. When items were placed inside this bag, a shortcut could be used to activate the item. YGGDRASIL players preferred to place single-used items in here since their Item Box doesn't allow it.  
Item Box: A dimensional space which YGGDRASIL players use to store their items. Originally a tool for YGGDRASIL Players to store their loot and equipment, in the New World it functions as a pocket dimension. A palm-sized dark, purplish portal that opens up in the fabric of space and time when a player puts their hand in. Item Box allows people to store or place various sorts of items within. It seems to possess a limitless amount of space. Extremely useful for storing different items needed based on the situation. It is possible for a high-level thief to steal from it, though the limit of loot would be one or two items per player. In the Web Novel, it was said the Item Box has the ability to contain infinite amount of items without limit. Though the dimensional space did not allow for items to be activated within it. NPCs also possess their own Item Boxes, allowing them to call forth various stored equipment. Players could expand their item box spaces by using cash items, however, an NPC's item box was still limited.  
Jörmungandr: A giant, double-edged greatsword. It is a colossal double-edged greatsword with a wide blade that is as tall as Tempest himself. It is relatively simple compared to other weapons with the hilt simply consisting of a simple handguard and a round head for a pommel. The blade is dark blue except around the edges, which are steel grey. Tempest can swing this sword with one hand. Tempest keeps this greatsword in a sheath on his back. Jörmungandr is technically useable by anyone, but it is specifically tailored to Tempest and his racial and job classes. To unleash its full potential, someone would need the same racial and job classes as Tempest and even then, they would most likely either disenchant it for materials or sell it off. Tempest cannot equip Jörmungandr while in his human form because he is no longer considered a Lightning Dragonoid.  
Katana  
Magic Glasses: A beautiful pair of glasses kept in a high-class case. The glasses are constructed with a thin silver frame. Engraved on the frame is a pattern of narrow letters. The lenses were crafted from blue ice crystals. The glasses allows for instant translation of written foreign languages once they are worn. Its craftsmanship is compared to those made by dwarves. The Anime depicts the item as monocle in shape, whereas in the Manga it resembles actual glasses.  
Mask of Envy/Mask of the Jealous: A type of cursed item. Mask of Envy is a giveaway event item from YGGDRASIL for players who logged into YGGDRASIL from 7 am to 10 pm during the Christmas Eve and remained active in-game for at least two hours. The mask is similar to a Barong mask from Bali. Its expression can somewhat be described as neutral. The mask could be considered as useless for it could not be customized or installed with data crystals for additional effects. It mostly serves as a mere decorative feature for a player's avatar. The Mask of Envy is based on the Barong from Balinese mythology. It was considered a "curse item" by the players, because the developers gave it as a dark joke for the single players.  
Minor Healing Potion: A low-grade healing potion from YGGDRASIL. This potion has the ability equivalent to second-tier healing magic. It recovers 50HP through positive energy. The potion is able to immediately heal wounds in a matter of seconds by whoever drinks it. Due to its potent properties and longevity, it's considered to be the perfect potion. Also, it's a useful item against beings with negative energy like undead creatures, capable of injuring them to a degree.  
Mirror of Gate: This is a magic item from YGGDRASIL. Although this item bears resemblance to the Mirror of Remote Viewing, this one, on the other hand, allows the user to be transported to another location from where they are at since it has the power to connect two points. This item is a giant mirror. The outer frame was made of metal with a golden sheen was finely engraved with strange symbols which looked like runes. The mirror was completely unblemished, appearing to be water frozen solid. Just as the name implied, it's power should be similar to that of the "Gate" spell.  
Mirror of Remote Viewing: This is a magic item that enables the user to view other locations. The mirror is about 1 meter in height with oval-shaped bronze frame covering its sides and edges. One is located in the throne room of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, this item could display to the user a live view of the landscape, the location of players and people anywhere in the New World, even unventured locations. However, in YGGDRASIL game, players could avoid its sight by casting low level anti-search magic. It's a magic mirror that allows the user to see and observe any known or unknown location. Like a computer screen, the user can manipulate the image perception, enlarging or minimizing the view using specific hand gestures to move through what the mirror is displaying. However, a low-level anti-search magic is enough to hide from the mirror's sight and it can easily be destroyed when hit by an attack. Thus, Ainz describes it as "a very balanced item". Normally, this mirror won't offer a view indoors, but through using a magic that creates and links the sensory organ, it is possible to do so. In the past, Ainz Ooal Gown had possibly used this item to locate targets for PKing. It seems Nazarick possesses a few sets of these mirrors for surveillance purposes. In the Web Novel, by YGGDRASIL standard, this item was used to peek at places that were packed with people, such as castles and towns, an item that allowed the user to choose the best time to shop. It seems that those who are under the remote viewing have a vague sense of someone watching them as we saw in Carne Village and with Jircniv.  
Pitcher of Endless Water: A magic water vessel. The pitcher is made of crystal-clear glass and it was soon filled to the brim with refreshing water. Because of the coldness of the water, numerous water droplets condensed on the surface of the pitcher. This flask can produce a constant flow of pure water.  
Platinum Sword  
Poison Detecting Sapphire Gem Ring  
Resurrection Wand: A magic artifact that can revive the dead. Under normal circumstances, only faith-based magic casters could use items imbued with faith-based magic. However, this magic item is an exception to the faith-based system and can, therefore, be used. The wand takes on the appearance of a glowing short stick of about thirty centimeters in length. While so, it emitted a sacred aura that appeared out of place in the hand of its user. In a way, it was an extremely beautiful item which seemed to be made out of ivory, with the front end coated in gold and the handle inscribed with runes. This magic item allows the user to cast a 7th tier resurrection spell. It is able to revive a dead target back to life. On the other hand, it requires a dead person's corpse in order for the wand to be used for carrying out its ability to resurrect the target. Even if the corpse is present, the condition of their body might complicate matters. Without an intact corpse, there is a chance that if the person is revived, it might instead become one of the Undead. On the other hand, it is also possible for the target to actually reject the resurrection imposed by the user. However, similar to YGGDRASIL, the revival comes with penalties on the level of the target, making the target lose a degree of its vitality. In YGGDRASIL, the penalty comes with the player's loss of five levels upon resurrection, but in the New World, another setback also deals with the person losing part of their life force after being revived. Ainz Ooal Gown has quite a number of these wands at his disposal. He commented that he could have revived the slain villagers in Carne Village and still have wands to spare.  
Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown: Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown is a silver wrought ring with an amethyst embedded in the center of it. The guild's symbol is also imprinted on the amethyst in black. Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown is a type of ring whose use was solely for traveling in and out within the Great Tomb of Nazarick. It allows the wearer to travel instantaneously anywhere within the confines of the necropolis except a few specific areas. Additionally, it is also capable of instantly changing its size to fit its user's finger size. Moreover, any guild members of Ainz Ooal Gown who wore that ring would automatically appear in the Round Table Room when they logged into the game, barring special circumstances. Therefore, if any guild members returned to the Great Tomb of Nazarick, they would do so in that room. Ainz rarely wore the ring because its power always had a constant effect on him. The ring's power cannot be canceled so easily unless Ainz unequipped it first. However, the only places where this ring could not teleport its wearer was to the Throne Room and the various guild members’ personal rooms. Since Nazarick was warded to block teleportation magic into or within itself, the ring is very handy and useful under certain circumstances. For instance, whoever is equipped with this ring could gain access to the Treasury, since that room required the person using it to be able to enter freely. Tempest wears his guild ring on his left ring finger.  
Ring of immunity to bindings and other movement impediments  
Ring of immunity to instant death  
Ring of immunity to status ailments  
Ring of proof against divination magic  
Ring of proof against undead control and banishment  
Ring of Sustenance: A magic ring that allows the user to go without food, drink and sleep for several days. Tempest wears this ring on his left index finger to avoid the inconvenience of having to eat but despite possessing such an item, Tempest allows himself to consume food for pleasure rather than for nutrition.  
Sealing Crystal: A magic item that can seal high-level spells. By YGGDRASIL standard, spell-sealing crystals were one of the rarest among magic items out there. In turn, they were also very easy to use, and at high levels they were employed in large quantities. In the New World, sealing crystals are looked upon as legendary items imbued with great power. The legends and tales revolving around these items originate from the Slane Theocracy. According to Ainz, Sealing Crystals were valued as rare items that cannot be easily obtained or found in the New World. In a way, there are very few people like Ainz who actually knew about the true potency of its effect. As a result, false tales regarding the Sealing Crystals can be fabricated in the interest of its owner to keep the secrecy behind this item confidential. This item was also one of the national treasures possessed by the Slane Theocracy. The Sealing Crystal was left behind by the Six Great Gods six hundred years ago until the Theocracy's higher-ups pass it on to the former holder Nigun Grid Luin during his mission to assassinate Gazef Stronoff. He would later use it in a failed attempt to defeat Ainz Ooal Gown by summoning a high-rank angel. Sealing crystals seem to come in a variety of shapes and hold a quality of brilliance depending on what types of magic they contain. Sealing crystals are incredibly powerful artifacts in the New World, as they are capable of containing 7th tier or higher level of magic, an impossible feat for humans who are unable to contain or cast such magic. Thus, sealing crystals are considered extremely valuable to any nation that possesses one. The magic released by a sealing crystal can only be used once, so holders of these items would only use them as a last resort. Afterward, one must go to great expense and perform extensive rituals to recharge the spell within the crystal. Normally, one could not store enhanced spells inside a spell crystal, but Widen Magic was an exception. Magic Casters, in the New World, highly prized these sealing crystals as they are a subject of much debate and study.  
Shield of the Lightning Lord  
Statue of Animal - War Horse: Tempest uses this summoning item to summon a majestic giant golem warhorse donned with heavy metal armor as a mount for his use while traveling with Ainz, Narberal, Heretic, and Toro as an adventurer. Apparently, it is not a one-time use item, but the summon could be recalled and used again.  
Thanatos Blade: A black longsword that has a dark handle with a skull on it. Any wounds made by this sword can’t be healed even with magic. Thor’s Hammer: A mighty war hammer that allows an air Elementalist to deal enhanced damage with their air spells. It appears as a large, square-headed gray sledgehammer. It has a short, round handle wrapped in brown leather, culminating in a looped lanyard. The object is based on Mjölnir, the weapon of the mythological Thor. Tempest acquired this weapon in YGGDRASIL when he killed Thor.  
Twin Estocs  
Unnamed Ring: Alongside Ainz, Narberal, and Heretic, Tempest wears a silver ring with a blue stone in it on his right ring finger that seems capable of hiding an unknown amount of magical power from being identified by the individual in question.

My four Original Overlord NPCs (4):  
Lucifer Shadows: She is a Fallen Angel. Lucifer is the envoy and communication officer of Nazarick. Lucifer is stationed on the 8th floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick with Victim and Aureole Omega. Lucifer is Tempest’s “Horsemen of Death.” She serves as Jaldabaoth’s secretary who is called “Delilah.”  
Appearance:  
In her “Human form,” Lucifer Shadows appears as a beautiful young Caucasian girl with long blonde hair who wears a beautiful white ruffle dress that goes down to her knees and always walks around barefoot. The most interesting thing about her outfit is the golden symbol on the chest. The symbol is a skull’s head, from behind it come three spears. Her blonde hair reaches down to her lower back and is done in an angel ponytail. Her azure eyes glow like stars. Her youthful face gives off the impression that she is around 8 years old. She is 92cm tall. From her back, there are a pair of two grey angel-like wings, each only about 12 inches long and thus too small to allow flight, but with four of them, it is possible for her. The reason for the color of her wings is that she is a fallen angel. She can use glamour magic to hide her wings and make her eyes appear regular in order to appear as a normal human in public.  
In her true “Fallen Angel” form, she is 182cm, wears a black ball gown made of black feathers, has 3 pairs of black wings that are 36 inches, and has a bust size that matches Solution Epsilon’s.  
While under the guise of Jaldabaoth’s secretary “Delilah,” Lucifer wears a white and sky-blue maid outfit with black sailor navy dolly Lolita shoes, white socks, and a pink bow in her hair along with a Weeping Angel mask.  
When wearing a disguise, Lucifer uses illusion magic to make her hair appear white and her eye color red. She wears a white kimono, a white obi sash over her kimono and is tied by the front, two white Japanese magnolia flowers in her hair (one on the left side and one on the right side of her head), and carries either a Jakotsutō sword or a Shakujō staff. She calls herself “Ophelia.”  
When posing as the Horseman Death, Lucifer is in her true “Fallen Angel” form but she has red eyes with no visible pupils. She wears a dark blue body suit with white accents and has metalic wings.  
Personality:  
Lucifer Shadows is playful, kind, friendly, benevolent, sweet, but childish, stubborn, and not above using her adorable appearance to manipulate others. Lucifer, like her brothers Toro and Heretic, is subordinate to Belle and follows her lead. She tries to give advice to people who are struggling when given the chance. Lucifer likes to ride on Toro’s shoulder for fun or when she doesn’t feel like walking/flying. While Lucifer annoys her siblings with her immaturity, they respect her because of her devotion and hard work. Lucifer and Belle act much like Shalltear and Aura, Lucifer is cheerful while Belle is elitist. Lucifer enjoys poking fun at Heretic for his overly serious demeanor and quiet nature. Lucifer doesn't mind any race, knowing very well they all have their purpose and place.  
Abilities and Powers:  
Lucifer is an incredibly powerful divine magic caster and priestess who is very proficient in summoning angels, healing others, and performing resurrections. She is also very proficient with a sword. Lucifer draws her strength from believing in Azrael, the angel of destruction. Lucifer is a powerful druid who can cast spells that support her fellow companions or control nature. Similar to Shalltear and Mare, Lucifer is also known to have approximate statistics that are quite balanced in both physical and magical aspects of her power. An example of her extraordinary strength was when she physically crushed a man’s skull in with her staff. Through her magical power, Lucifer is even able to manipulate the vegetation as snares to securely bound the enemy's body within the environment. While so, Sebas noted how Lucifer's strength can compete for first and second place with Shalltear and Mare interchangeably. Unlike Shalltear who is a warrior optimized for one on one close combat individually, Lucifer is a magic caster optimized to deal with multiple enemies (mobs) such as armies simultaneously from afar. Particularly, Belle described Lucifer as a being who possessed the second strongest area-of-effect (AoE) spells in terms of power throughout all of Nazarick.  
Lore:  
Lucifer Shadows was the highest-ranked Seraphim of the angels and a general in Heaven’s military as well as their best swordsman, she led massive armies to vanquish Hell’s forces and destroy any civilization on Earth that exceeded a certain level of development. She became a fallen angel because she was cast out of Heaven after opposing the rule of the tyrannical God because he showed no compassion toward any repentant demons and wanted to keep humanity stagnate, so they’d worship him for eternity. Lucifer was banished to hell and became corrupted by the sins of humanity, her mission of protecting the innocent turned into punished the guilty and she turned into the devil's Agent of Vengeance. But she retained her morals and refuses to take an innocent life.  
Trivia:  
-Lucifer Shadows is the oldest NPC that was created by Tempest and thus the oldest of her siblings.  
-Lucifer is good friends with Aureole Omega. She wants to visit her on the 8th floor but entry into that floor is forbidden, she’s hoping to gain the permission of Tempest or Ainz then she’s going to see her friend.  
-She is called “The Dark Light of Hope” because, despite her nature as a fallen angel, she is a kind and gentle soul who only wants to help people.  
-She is nicknamed “Luci.”  
-Lucifer’s patron god, Azrael, is often identified with the Angel of Destruction and Renewal of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew name translates to "Angel of God", "Help from God", or "One Whom God Helps".  
-Lucifer Shadows tends to utilize a lot of dropkicks on her enemies because she has strong legs.  
-Her servant name as Jaldabaoth’s secretary is “Delilah,” which is the same name as a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible who is known for her flirtatious and deceitful behavior.  
-Her first name “Lucifer” is the Latin word for “the morning star” or “light bringer.”  
-Her name when wearing a disguise is “Ophelia” which means “help.”  
-She walks around barefoot because bare feet symbolize innocence or childhood.  
-Lucifer is Tempest’s “Horsemen of Death” because of her non-malevolent nature.  
-Lucifer has a beautiful voice, she enjoys singing in taverns and became immensely popular, to the point that during a festival she headlined a concert that was selling idol memorabilia.  
-Unlike the rest of the denizens of Nazarick, Lucifer, Nigredo, and Pestonya opposed killing innocent people kidnapped from the Re-Estize Kingdom by Demiurge. The three of them went out of their way to free them though at the risk of punishment as a result of it. They ended up punished for it, but Tempest convinced Ainz to go easy on them by citing that they were just behaving the way that were programmed to by him and their comrades.  
-Pure Seraph classes start from level 80, Arch Seraph at level 90, and lesser Seraph at level 60. Similar to the Overlord race... some advanced racial evolutionary stages can be only be taken once you reached the appropriate level.  
-Depending on the use of their racial class levels... even a simple angel can defeat an Arch Seraph if their level is equal, but Angels utilize their skills better. Pure angels still enjoy the grace of their creator, they can use said grace to fight the opponent. It’s different for the fallen, their light is still "Pure", do more damage on beings with evil karma. Also, while pure angels lean toward good alignment, their fallen counterparts are much more neutral toward things.  
-Like with Ainz’s undead summons, Lucifer’s angel summons become permanent if she makes a sacrifice of either souls, bodies, or some material equivalent to their existence (for example, plus mana points, XP, gold, precious metals, or even bodies like Momonga does).  
-Certain extremely high-level demons and angels, such as Demiurge and Lucifer Shadows, could use skills that could prevent the use of teleportation in their vicinity.  
-Fallen are just a different subspecies of angels.  
-Dark Knights like Albedo and the creator of Neuronist Painkill are looked upon as fallen paladins and could use blessing spells too. Lucifer wonders about this.  
-Although it was hard to express in figures, one could say that a warrior’s attack rating was 11 and defense was 9. In contrast, a paladin’s attack was 8 and defense was 11. Needless to say, paladins could cast spells, but warriors could learn all sorts of Martial Arts, so it was impossible to make a simple comparison. That explains Lucifer’s high defense.  
-Lucifer Shadows' design was inspired by Filo from the anime “The Rising of the Shield Hero,” Kanna from the anime “Inuyasha,” Lucemon from the Japanese media franchise “Digimon,” Auriel Michaelis from the fanfic “Overlordly Broken: Re” by fanfic author oblivon2991, and Kokabiel from the fanfic "Revelations" by fanfic author Arkio.  
Age: 35  
Gender: Female  
Height: 92cm (in her Human form), 182cm (in her true Fallen Angel form)  
Affiliation: Great Tomb of Nazarick, Tempest  
Family: Belle von Bane (Younger Sister), Heretic (Younger Brother), and Toro (Younger Brother)  
Title: The Dark Light of Hope  
Job/Occupation: Envoy and Communication Officer of Nazarick  
Role: Support/Cleric/Mage/AoE (damage dealer and healer)  
Residence: Cherry Blossom Sanctuary on the 8th of the Great Tomb of Nazarick  
Karma: Positive 400: Very Good  
Creator: Tempest  
Hobby: Singing, Sword Practice, and Pulling Pranks  
Voice Actress: Brianna Knickerbocker (who voiced Filo in the English dub of the anime television series “The Rising of the Shield Hero”)

Class Build  
Total Level : 100

Race: Fallen Angel  
Race Type: Heteromorphic

Racial Level  
Angel (15)  
Archangel (10)  
Fallen Angel (10)  
Seraph (5)  
Arch Seraph (5)  
Dominion (5)  
Racial Level Total (50)

Job Level  
Paladin (5)  
Holy Knight (5)  
Cleric (10)  
High Cleric (5)  
Templar (5)  
Priest (10)  
High Priestess (5)  
Druid (5)  
Job/Class Level Total (50)

Stats:  
HP : 75  
MP : 78  
Phy. Atk. : 78  
Phy. Def. : 73  
Agility : 60  
Mag. Atk. : 75  
Mag. Def. : 80  
Resistance : 96  
Special Ability : 59  
Total : 674

Active Skills:  
Acala's Sword: It's an AoE Physical attack that deals damage to multiple foes.  
Angelic Brainwashing: Lucifer Shadows can use this skill to take control of angels summoned by others, but she can only control lower angels than herself (and the higher the summoned angel’s level is, the lesser the duration and the chance of success).  
Chains of the Fallen: The fallen angel summons then uses their chains of disgrace to pull their enemies on the ground, damaging and lowering their combat and defensive rating with each strike.  
Corrupted Javelin: The fallen angel constructs a javelin with their disgraced energies, damaging the opponent with it.  
Dimensional Lock: This was a type of skill, which can only be used by the highest-ranking devils or angels. It renders teleportation and transfer magic unusable.  
Frost of Judecca: Freezes an enemy. Time-based skill.  
Lesser Seraph Summons: A Lesser Seraph is a fallen version of a Seraph with black wings; those are roughly on par with a demon lord. It could only be used to summon Lesser Seraphs once every 50 hours, but it could be freely controlled for a time. The Great Tomb of Nazarick would not be diminished even if the summoned fallen angel were killed.  
Twisted Exorcism: The fallen angel's exorcism spell deals the same damage no matter the karma level.

Passive Skills:  
Aura of Disgrace: A passive skill. The fallen angel emits an aura that reminds others of her failure. Passively casting debuff and lowering the stats to anyone that come in range.  
Cognitive Hypnosis: Lucifer’s words are empowered by this passive skill. It makes the affected think highly of the user, seeing her in a better light, basically manipulating them to accept her, and follow her without force.  
Strengthen Summoned Angels: A skill that allows Lucifer Shadows to increase the power of her summoned angels, so they’ll be slightly stronger in battle than they normally are.

Tier Spells:  
Anti-Evil Protection: A 1st tier spell used to defend against attacks from evil beings.  
Blindness: Makes your opponent temporarily blind.  
Complete Invisibility: It is a spell that is far superior to 'Invisibility,' a spell that temporarily renders the caster invisible or undetectable to conventional vision. It makes Lucifer completely invisible to anyone but those who use specialized magic to see her. The highest-ranked undead could even see through this spell's effect.  
Control Cloud: A 4th tier spell that allows the user to manipulate the clouds.  
Control Weather: A 6th tier spell that allows the user to manipulate the weather.  
Cure Disease  
Cure Moderate Wounds  
Cure Poison  
Delay Teleportation: A spell that can briefly hinder teleportation effects that had their destination near the caster, buying them several seconds of time, which the caster would typically use to flee or prepare an attack. In addition, the spell also informed the caster of how many beings would be teleporting into their vicinity. Its effective against Greater Teleportation. Lucifer could use this spell with Widen Magic.  
Detect Life  
Detect Undead: It is a spell used by the caster to identify whether the target is an undead or not.  
Earth Bind  
Earth Surge  
Earthquake  
Fly: A 3rd tier spell that gives the caster the ability to fly.  
Geyser  
Heal: A 6th tier spell that could restore a great deal of health in addition to healing various diseases and other abnormal status conditions.  
Heaven’s Flame: An 8th tier spell that causes fire to descend from the heavens and forms a pillar of red light. Lupusregina Beta can also cast this spell.  
Heavy Recover  
Holy Ray: A 4th tier spell that can create a ray of light used to pierce the intended target.  
Holy Strike: As an elementary technique among paladins, it was originally intended to be used in the moment one’s blade bit into a foe's flesh. Still, that did not mean it could not be used as a touch attack. Since most of the divine power simply exploded on the surface, it would not do much harm.  
Invisibility: Makes the caster invisible.  
Lesser Dexterity: Raises the target’s dexterity.  
Lesser Mind Protection  
Lesser Strength: Raises the target’s strength.  
Light Healing: A 1st tier divine spell that heals allies of their wounds with a soothing warm green light.  
Lion’s Heart: A 3rd tier spell that provides only a single target with complete resistance to fear.  
Magic Arrow: A 1st tier spell that allows the user to shoot out an arrow made of mana that will pierce a target. Lucifer can also use this spell with Triple Maximize Magic.  
Magic Shield  
Mass Cure Light Wounds  
Mass Middle Cure Wounds: AoE HP recovery.  
Mass Resurrection: A 10th tier AoE spell that resurrects a large group of people. Lucifer Shadows can use resurrection magic almost infinitely because she has the required racial classes.  
Mass Silence  
Message: In the Web Novel, the spell is classified as part of the 2nd tier. This spell was used to communicate in the game. Normally, its use was restricted to certain places and conditions. The problem was that this spell was originally designed to communicate with other players, and it could not reach a GM. When one used the [Message] spell, as long as the other party was within the game, one would hear a call tone. Otherwise, there would be no sound, and the spell would immediately terminate. In the New World, the effect from this spell's usage felt like something was constantly reaching out, as though looking for something to connect to.  
Meteor Fall: A 10th tier spell, which causes a falling meteor to fall from the sky with shimmering light, which blinds onlookers temporarily. The meteor rips through the air and hit its intended target, then creates a burst of explosion upon contact. As a result, the massive explosion created by the meteor was able to flatten everything it touches and pulverized any surrounding targets.  
Middle Cure Wound  
Nature’s Shelter: It is a 10th tier divine spell, which can summon forth a bunker from the earth. The inside of the shelter gives the illusion of an endless sky.  
Open Wounds: A 2nd spell that worsens the target's wounds.  
Paralyze  
Perfect Unknowable: A 9th tier spell used to make the user invisible to the naked eye. It can also erase one's traces and sounds including the pitch of the user's voice from being heard, making the magic caster very difficult to detect if they did not have very high-level thief-type job classes.  
Power of Gaia  
Protection Energy – Fire: Provides limited protection from fire attacks.  
Protection Energy – Ice  
Protection Energy – Negative: Protects target from Negative Energy damage.  
Protection from Evil  
Raise Dead: It is a 5th tier resurrection spell, which revives the dead person back to life with some loss of vitality and five levels in return. Moreover, this spell will have a hard time working without a corpse, or if it’s badly damaged.  
Resurrection: A 7th tier spell used to resurrect the dead.  
Shock Wave: A 2nd tier spell that when activated, emits an invisible shock wave that can even distort the air and is an invisible attack that can easily crush a full plate armor.  
Silence: A 2nd tier spell that allows the caster to eliminate sounds in an area.  
Sleep: In the Web Novel, it is a 1st tier spell that forces a person to have the desire of sleeping.  
Smite Evil  
Stream of Lava: A 10th tier, divine spell that deals fire-type damage.  
Summon Angel 2nd Tier: Summons an Angel Guardian. Additionally, her [Strengthen Summoned Angels] skill enhances the strength of any summoned angels.  
Summon Angel 3rd Tier: Summons an Archangel Flame. Additionally, Lucifer’s special [Strengthen Summoned Angels] skill enhances the strength of any summoned angels.  
Summon Angel 4th Tier: Summons either a Principality Observation or Principality Peace. Additionally, her [Strengthen Summoned Angels] skill enhances the strength of any summoned angels.  
Summon Angel 7th Tier: Summons a Dominion Authority or other Dominion rank angels. Additionally, her [Strengthen Summoned Angels] passive skill enhances the strength of any summoned angels.  
Summon Heaven’s Army: A 10th tier spell that allows Lucifer Shadows to summon 1 Seraph Empyrean, 5 Dominion Authorities, 10 Principality Observations, 15 Principality Peace, 25 Archangel Flames, and 30 Angel Guardians at once. According to the standards of YGGDRASIL players, said angels are not considered to be strong. However, Lucifer can use her special [Strengthen Summoned Angels] passive skill to enhance the strength of any summoned angels.  
True Resurrection: A 9th tier spell, which is capable of reviving the dead. It could resurrect low-leveled beings like Neia Baraja without turning them into ashes during the process, but they will still lose some levels along the way.  
Turn Undead: Repels or exorcises undead targets depending on the difference of strength between the caster and the targets.  
Twine Plant: Summons vines from the ground to entangle targeted opponents, immobilizing them.  
Under Divine Flag: The spell enhance resistance against fear, affecting everyone in a sphere around the caster. It is a spell that was centered on the paladin who had cast it, which meant that its effect were strongest when many people were bunched up within its effective radius.

Summons:  
Lesser Seraph: A Level 65 beautiful man, or woman with ten pairs of black angelic wings behind their back. Depending on the type, they either wear a beautiful gown, or a shining armor adorned with heavenly symbols. They are so beautiful that much lesser races who see them immediately fall into a trance, feeling the urge to serve them. Above their head is a huge floating golden halo constructed from holy light, their eyes are usually covered by a blindfold. Their body emits graceful holy energy. It can serve as both a knight, or magic caster unit (it depends on the summoner’s choice which version to call).

Special Abilities:  
Angel Creation: Lucifer Shadows creates angels (racial summon).  
Corrupted Light: A passive ability. The light of the fallen angel recedes but doesn’t fade. Each use of the Fallen's racial powers leaves a lingering corruption on the target, causing damage over time effect.  
Fallen From Grace: A passive ability. Once the Fallen were angels, falling from their creator's grace they needed to take alternative measurements to survive and thrive, forced to live in the shadows, and the lower worlds. Each fallen angel gains a combat advantage in the dark, the human world, and a slight advantage in infernal places. But suffer debuff in light-filled places and in the heavens.  
Fallen Stealth (racial stealth)  
Gathering Shadows: The user calls upon the power of shadows to empower themselves.  
Healing Hands: Heals any target that the user targets but hurts undead.  
Holy Energy Radiation: Radiates holy energy that either damages enemies or heals allies.  
Photokinesis

Basic Fallen Angel Race Traits:  
Bladed Weapon Vulnerability V  
Critical Hit Vulnerability V  
Dark Vision  
Darkness Resistance II  
Disease Immunity  
Double Damaged by Corruption and Chaos  
Eating and Drinking provide increased positive effects  
Energy Drain Vulnerability  
Evil and Desecrated Consecrated Areas' Vulnerability II  
Fire Resistance  
Good, Light and Holy Immunity V  
Holy Immunity  
Light Immunity  
Necromancy Vulnerability III  
Paralysis Immunity  
Partial Mind-affecting Immunity  
Physical Penalty Resistance  
Poisoning Immunity  
Recover by Positive energy

Powers:  
Techno-Organic Wings: Lucifer Shadows was given techno-organic wings by Tempest as part of her conversion to the Horseman Death. Their feathers could be launched as flechettes which hit like bullets and able to pierce steel, due in part to their incredible endurance and composition. Lucifer could use them to torpedo herself through most anything blasting through and rending it apart. Her feathered wings are still underneath the metallic wings.  
 Flight: Lucifer’s wings enabled her to fly approximately at Mach 1, possibly even faster considering she had little trouble out-flying a fighter jet which can travel a speed of Mach 2.35 (2,903 kph) and later still showed out flying the Blackbird while above sea level at Mach 4.2 (roughly 5,189 kph).  
 Wing Blades: Her T.O. wings have razor sharp edges running along them, most likely mono-molecular in sharpness, making them very deadly bladed weapons for her to use. It's suggested they can cleave semblances with the toughness of diamond being sharp enough cleave stone, tear through tempered steel slice and can easily cleave grown men clean in two.  
 Wing Shielding: Due to their metallic trans organic nature they made decent shields to protect his body by covering up in them. Able to resist an arrow barrage, bullet fire, flash flames, a missile strike and lastly can tank a bio-nuclear microwave blast.  
 Poisonous Plumage: Lucifer’s new wings come with dischargeable flechettes which carried a potent neurotoxin paralyzing their mark on contact.  
Regenerative Healing Factor: Lucifer has the ability to regrow damaged and destroyed tissue. Every time they had been extracted new ones would regrow in their place.  
Hypersonic Scream: Lucifer could emit an intense acoustic shrieking which could cause disorientation and internal bleeding.  
Energy Halo: Lucifer is accommodated by a surrounding wreath of bright energy.

Main Equipment:  
Demonic Mirror: Lucifer carries a special mirror that possesses multiple abilities that aid her in combat and carrying out orders. It can steal souls and spy on others.  
Flying Steed: Death utilizes a mystical flying pale steed as one of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse.  
Heavenly Druid Staff: A majestic white wooden cross-staff that Lucifer uses to boost her Druid spells when casting magic or as a bludgeoning weapon.  
Holy Greatsword: A thick, wide single-edged golden sword that has high killing power and is capable of decimating enemies with its weight. A massive weapon that doesn't match any lightweight equipment like leather armor. This blade is made from magical energy, it will disappear when she wishes. Lucifer, however, can hold it easily with one hand. The blade of the massive greatsword emits yellow lights that wrap in an aura. Every time she swings the sword, a flash of yellow runs through, slashing and mowing down anyone in her way. Of course, if someone received the direct attack of the blade, they would not able to withstand it and be slashed into two. The range of the blow is about 10m. An attack that kills all in a straight line. With bottomless stamina, Lucifer attacks without any interruptions, anyone around her cannot come close to. This is a soul eater for sinners. It eats the soul from a single strike. As a result, though it's not a certain-kill weapon, it does do both physical and spiritual damage. So, one needs to be on their guard as otherwise one will be devoured. Its size is comparable to Aura's size.  
Jakotsutō (蛇骨刀, じゃこつとう, "Snake Skill/Bone Sword") is a scimitar that Lucifer Shadows uses. It is composed of chain-linked blades that resemble the movements of a snake moving in for the strike when it was swung. The Jakotsutō is a broad sword made up of at least 50 chain-linked blades held together at each end by pins. When deployed or swung, these blades zig-zag back and forth as they moved forward, resembling the movements of a snake moving in for the strike. The dual wrist-guards on Jakotsutō's hilt help to secure and tighten/stabilize the wielder's grip on the sword, allowing for better control and manipulation of the blades when deployed. In accordance with its name, the design on Jakotsutō's sheath resembles a snake's scaly skin. Maintenance on the Jakotsutō would be a tedious, time-consuming and burdensome process, requiring the disassembly of the sword so that each blade could be cleaned and polished separately. Then it would have to be reassembled and each pin connecting the blades would have to be oiled and tightened just-so to allow the smooth movements required to maintain control over the entire sword.  
Justice Ally: A holy Templar sword that inflicts grievous wounds to those with evil alignment to a great extent. This magic weapon can produce a huge amount of holy magic.  
Light Paladin Shield  
Paladin Armor: A full suit of enchanted heavy plate white armor.  
Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown  
Shakujō Staff: The shakujō is a metal pole topped with a metal finial with two sections, each with three rings. It can be used as a striking weapon, because of its length, and is particularly effective against demons when charged with holy power. After being charged with holy power, Lucifer can smash demons with a combined physical impact and holy effect. Lucifer can also use her spiritually charged staff to protect against the demonic.  
Surtalogi (Surtr's Fire): This world item is the fire with which the giant Surtr will burn the whole world with, thus destroying it. Basically, it creates an inextinguishable spreading fire effect that affects and damages anyone who has no world items in their possession. Only the bearer of Surtalogi can extinguish the mystical fires, as they spread until Surtalogi stops.

Belle von Bane: She is a Doppelgänger. Belle is the teleport master, scholar, head researcher, head enchanter, and chef of Nazarick. Belle is stationed on the first three floors of the Great Tomb of Nazarick with Shalltear Bloodfallen. Belle is Tempest’s “Horsemen of Pestilence.” She serves as Jaldabaoth’s handmaiden who is called “Lilith.”  
Appearance:  
Belle von Bane usually assumes the appearance of an unnaturally beautiful young girl with pale skin who is around 14 years old. In her preferred form, Belle is of short stature as she is as tall as Shalltear Bloodfallen because her height is 140cm. Belle has combed white hair that goes down to her back and has bright purple eyes. She wears a black evening gown that covers her lower body as well as black flat sandals and has perfectly manicured nails. Belle has a bust size that rivals Albedo’s and carries a black Japanese folding hand fan in her right hand while she carries a black lace parasol in her left hand. Belle can use glamour magic to hide her fangs in order to appear as a human while in public. In her true form, Belle appears as a humanoid with thin 4 claw-like fingers on each hand, but her face resembles that of an egg with three holes in the place of her mouth and eyes.  
While under the guise of Jaldabaoth’s handmaiden “Lilith,” Belle wears a white wedding dress, long black wig, white sun hat, white lace high heels, and a white ornate tragedy mask.  
On occasion, Belle wears either a white ball gown, black maid uniform, or plague doctor outfit.  
She also tends to wear a black kimono with a black obi sash over the kimono that’s tied by the front, straw sandals, and carries a pair of folding silk black hand fans.  
When posing as the Horseman Pestilence, Belle appears as an 8-year-old girl of 128.2 cm with very pale skin, long dark hair and bangs, and wears a plague doctor outfit.  
Personality:  
Possessing an attitude befitting an aristocrat, Belle has a sophisticated, seductive, calm, cold, cruel, commanding, corrupting, condescending, domineering, and highly intelligent personality as her intellect rivals Pandora’s Actor. Belle is ruthless and, when she interacts with other races, holds little to no regard for them outside of how they can be useful to her plans. Belle is a deceitful and manipulative sociopath, as she has no problem putting on a friendly facade to trick others into aiding her in her missions or lower their guard. Belle loves psychological manipulation and wordplay, using it in her taunts before having people killed. Technically speaking, she never actually lies to her future victims, she just doesn’t tell them the whole truth until it’s too late. Belle is a different flavor of evil than the other negative karma Nazarick NPCs, especially her fellow NPCs with -500 (Extremely Evil) like Albedo and Demiurge. Belle doesn’t have a kind bone in her body, but she isn’t cruel for the sake of cruelty, she just uses whatever means and methods she has at her disposal to accomplish her goals and to improve Nazarick. She’s not a sadistic monster, but a cold, calculating and cerebral monster that often sees others as objects she can use to her advantage. However, Belle can find the time to enjoy the suffering of others; she is a talker who enjoys playing mind games and twisting the knife by adding insult to injury. To her, humans are tools at best and vermin at worst. She always has her eye on the prize and the way to get to it. She easily adapts to changes in the situation and incorporates new facts while dropping plans that show themselves no longer worthy to pursue. Her one scheming flaw is that she might disregard what she deems low priority, only to find herself caught by surprise by said low priority later. Belle and Lucifer act much like Shalltear Bloodfallen and Aura Bella Fiora, one is cheerful (Lucifer) while the other is elitist (Belle). While Belle is Lucifer’s, Heretic’s, and Toro’s superior, she doesn’t treat them in an ill manner and addresses them with a sense of comradery, and while she's more than capable of terminating their targets, she happily leaves the dirty work to her brutish partners. Belle respects Demiurge and Heretic for their intelligence and professionalism.  
Abilities and Powers:  
Belle is considered to be one of the smartest, most tactical and powerful NPC by settings. As a higher-tier Doppelgänger, she has the ability to mimic YGGDRASIL characters or New World denizens based on their appearance and abilities with her class skills. In particular, it is the Players belonging to the guild Ainz Ooal Gown that she can mimic. By transforming into one of these players, however, Belle will receive penalties in all attributes when she does that. Nevertheless, her main ability above all else as a doppelgänger is the capability to shape-change into other people. When Belle mimics a person's form, she can use all of their abilities and skills only up to 80% of their original's potency. Among Belle having 50 different forms to mimic from, it would include all 41 guild members of Ainz Ooal Gown while as the rest of her 9 remaining forms are left unknown currently. For instance, Belle is able to make use of guild members like Nearata's appearance and power, utilizing the Supreme Being's special ability in that form to fulfill her creator's orders for miscellaneous purposes. Depending on any one of the various forms the doppelgänger can change into, the stats of Belle are modifiable at best with the exception of her HP, MP, and special ability which stays the same as always after the transformation. If it is a magic caster, she takes the shape of, Belle can only access and use their set of three hundred tier spells exclusive to that one form respectively among her 50 transformations. According to the author Maruyama, transforming from one spell caster to another, the type of magic she can use will switch completely around as well. Although Belle can transform into any one of the 41 guild members of Ainz Ooal Gown and use all of their abilities and skills, she is unable to gain access to their Super-Tier Magic or super-tier spells. However, Maruyama did not entirely rule out the possibility that she can as long as she is in possession of a certain item which allows her to perform Super-Tier Magic. Since Belle’s talent focuses on transformation, she is obviously capable of disguising herself and her own presence as a player or even the creator of an NPC to some degree. Such a disguise was able to somehow deceive an NPC like Sebas while under the form of her creator Tempest. Unfortunately, her transformation of Tabula Smaragdina, the creator of Albedo didn't hold a lasting effect on their respective NPC for long. This is because she quickly realized that the Supreme Being standing before her is nothing more than an impostor pretending to be him purely appearance-wise. Reasonably so, it was why Tempest made Belle in the first place with the intention of preserving his guild members' appearance. Despite having 50 forms, it seems that Pandora's Actor can still transform into anything as long as it is a living thing, she is taking the form of. Although Belle may not seem as strong as some of the other Floor Guardians, she is considered to be one of the most diverse and capable of taking on the shape that will have the greatest effect. According to Sebas though, there was a rumor going around in Nazarick that Belle’s strength is actually on the same level as the rest of the Floor Guardians too. Belle is so intelligent she can copy fighting styles by sight, anticipate her opponent's actions, and turn a savage horde into disciplined warriors while instilling comradery and a genuine desire to lay down their lives for a greater cause. Tempest gave Belle a few levels in cooking so she could help Sous-chef in the Restaurant of Nazarick.  
Lore:  
Belle von Bane was the illegitimate youngest daughter of a cold-hearted Doppelgänger king, but her adopted mother was a kind and nurturing queen who taught her history, geography, economics, politics, cooking, and sewing when she wasn't attending to her studies. Though her father was revered as beloved, generous, and compassionate, Belle never received these emotions from her father as she was born to a servant mother. Attempting to gain the love of the people of her kingdom, Belle would steal priceless treasures from her father and give them to the townsfolk. Unaware of her ability to transmit terminal diseases by touch, her gifts to the townsfolk only spread death, even killing her father and adopted mother. With her country’s defenses weakened, this was the perfect opportunity for a human nation to invade the country and take the rest of her people into slavery. Belle managed to escape and fled to another one of the human nations.  
Trivia:  
-Belle von Bane is the second oldest of Tempest’s NPCs.  
-Belle likes to work on experiments in her lab.  
-Belle has a lab with tables covered in mechanical parts and chemicals, meat hooks with corpses on them hung from the ceiling, walls covered in blueprints, industrial equipment scattered about, and more. The lab also has operating tables.  
-Belle is currently building mechanical warriors called “Clockwork Soldiers,” Die Schattenkriegsmaschines/The Shadow Warfare Machines,” “Tunnelers,” and “Frost Talos’” in the Secret Lab behind the Science Section of the Grand Library of Ashurbanipal. To access this lab, one must pull a book called “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus”, by Mary Shelley, from one of the shelves. It acts as a lever that opens a secret passageway. The idea for the Clockwork Soldiers came from fanfic writer GoodguysRoverated, author of the fanfic “The Antichrist Cometh.” Die Schattenkriegsmaschines/The Shadow Warfare Machines are based on the Helghast Trooper from the video game series "Killzone," the Kriegstaffebot from the show "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated," and the Cybermen from the show "Doctor Who." The Tunneler’s design was inspired by Driller from the Season 1 episode 5 of the 2011 show "ThunderCats" called "Old Friends" but with black armor instead of purple. The Frost Talos was inspired by the Ice Talos from the video game "God of War: Ascension," the Annihilator from the 4th episode of Season 1 of the show "Justice League Unlimited" called "Hawk and Dove," and the Bid Daddies from the video game "BioShock." They resemble the Ice Talos from the video game "God of War: Ascension."  
-Belle draws strength from her faith in the Norse God of war and wisdom Odin.  
-As a Doppelgänger, Belle can eat anything and has no preferences or dislikes up to being willing to eat live insects  
-In YGGDRASIL, Belle’s Cook job class was a non-combat profession. It mostly focused on the preparation of food. Being a Cook, cooking required specialized skills. However, cooking was able to give temporary ability bonuses to the person who eats their food. If a cook was to utilize buff-effect ingredients to make food, it is possible for the food to acquire buff effects depending on the [cook class] level. In YGGDRASIL, only those who possessed the job-specific special ability were able to cook. This was because food could temporarily raise battle capability through buffs, which was why requiring a job-specific special ability was natural.  
-She is called “The Beautiful Black Rose with White Thorns” because in the Language of Flowers, while with many kinds of roses, there are many different meanings, black roses symbolize meanings including hatred, death, and despair, her great beauty hides her true monstrous and hideously cruel nature.  
-Her name “Belle” means “beautiful woman” in French. Her middle name “von” is a term used in German language surnames either as a nobiliary particle indicating a noble patrilineality, or as a simple preposition used by commoners that mean of or from. Her last name “bane” means “a cause of great distress or annoyance.”  
-Her servant name as Jaldabaoth’s handmaiden is “Lilith,” which derives from a female demon found in Jewish mythology.  
-Belle is Tempest’s “Horsemen of Pestilence” because she can spread her vampirism like a disease if she turns into a vampire although her philosophy regarding bacteria and her high intelligence make her a blend of both Pestilence and Conquest the Horsemen, whom the latter of which is usually replaced by the former in modern media. Belle claims: “Disease has always had a bad reputation, don't you agree? For being filthy, chaotic. Uh, but, really, that just describes people who get sick. Disease itself... very... pure. Single-minded. Bacteria, unlike other life forms, have one purpose: divide and conquer. That's why, in the end... it always wins.”  
-Like with Ainz's undead summons, Belle’s simple low-level undead summons are permanent but mid/high-level undead require sacrifice (a body or something in exchange) to remain permanent.  
-Belle von Bane’s design was inspired by Shalltear Bloodfallen, Pandora’s Actor, Queen Chrysalis from the show “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic,” the vampire Darla from the show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Shatter from the movie “Bumblebee,” James Stillwell from the comic book “The Boys,” Balloma from the fanfic “The Heirs of the Overlord” by fanfic author Brandon Storm, and Vampira from the fanfic "Power Rangers Star Knights" by fanfic author AVP5.  
Age: 30  
Gender: Female  
Height: 140cm (in her human form), 163cm (in her true Doppelgänger form)  
Affiliation: Great Tomb of Nazarick, Tempest  
Family: Lucifer Shadows (Older Sister), Heretic (Younger Brother), and Toro (Younger Brother)  
Title: The Beautiful Black Rose with White Thorns  
Job/Occupation: Teleport Master, Scholar, Head Researcher, Head Enchanter, and Chef  
Role: Healer/Magic Caster/Mostly ranged DPS (Damage Per Second)  
Residence: Adipocere Chamber on the 2th of the Great Tomb of Nazarick and:  
-Also, she sometimes stays in her Secret Lab behind the Science Section of the Grand Library of Ashurbanipal when she’s working on a project for the Supreme Beings  
Karma: Negative 500: Extremely Evil  
Creator: Tempest  
Hobby: Historical Research, Formulating Plans, Wearing Dresses, Reading Classical Literature, Performing Experiments in Her Lab, and Enchanting Weapons and Armor  
Voice Actress: Amanda Joy “AJ” Michalka (who voiced Catra in the television series “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power”)

Class Build  
Total Level : 100

Race: Doppelgänger  
Race Type: Heteromorphic

Racial Level  
Doppelgänger (15)  
Greater Doppelgänger (10)  
Racial Level Total (25)

Job Level  
Shapeshifter (10)  
Actress (5)  
Charisma (5)  
Cleric (5)  
Elementalist (5)  
Weapon Master (5)  
Craftsman (10)  
Expert (10)  
Commander (10)  
Cook (5)  
Enchanter (5)  
Job/Class Level Total (75)

Stats:  
HP : 85  
MP : 80  
Phy. Atk. : 55 (variable)  
Phy. Def. : 49 (variable)  
Agility : 81 (variable)  
Mag. Atk. : 60 (variable  
Mag. Def. : 50 (variable)  
Resistance : 52 (variable)  
Special Ability : 100  
Total : 612 (variable)

Tier Spells:  
Anti-Evil Protection: A 1st tier spell used to defend against attacks from evil beings.  
Brilliant Radiance: An offensive spell that purifies the target with holy light.  
Burn Lance: A 4th tier physical spell that deals fire damage.  
Chain Dragon Lightning: A 7th tier spell that shoots dragon-shaped lightning towards the target. Let alone its intended target, it can also strike other enemies nearby. As with Lightning, its effective against targets wearing metal armor.  
Charm Species: It is a 4th tier spell that works on any species. It makes the target regard the caster as a "friend” and may be used in interrogation. However, it cannot make the target reveal secrets that they would not reveal to a friend or perform actions that friends would not tell them to do, such as self-harm.  
Complete Invisibility: It is a spell that is far superior to 'Invisibility.' Belle would be completely invisible to anyone unless they used specialized magic to see her. The highest-ranked undead could even see through this spell's effect.  
Create Water: A 1st tier lifestyle tradition spell which creates water. While zero-tier spells could also create drinkable water, the water created by this spell was described as being more sweeter upon tasting it. As a first-tier spell, the water generated by [Create Water] was not limited to just filling a single basin. While there was a time limit to it, the overall volume of water created that would increase in keeping with the caster’s skills. This could be parceled out over multiple occasions. Therefore, there would be no spillage and waste even if the user cast the spell on the basin.  
Cure Moderate Wounds  
Crystal Dagger: A spell used to create an even larger crystal dagger unlike the one before while then appearing in mid-air and shot out. This dagger did purely physical damage and could not be resisted. On top of this, by further applying special magic skills, it is able to break through defenses easily.  
Crystal Lance: A 4th tier spell used by Evileye against Entoma, launching an elongated cold object sent flying in her direction.  
Crystal Wall: A spell that creates a wall made of earth-element crystals.  
Dehydration: It is a 4th tier spell which the caster would use for dealing great damage to all living beings apart from Water Elementals and other creatures closely aligned with the element of water.  
Destruction Water: It is a 1st tier spell that the caster used to make the water disappear immediately. This spell belonged to one of the four great systems which is also known as the elemental traditions. It could also be used for offensive purposes. It did less damage when used against living beings than other spells of the same tier. However, it could do significant damage to Water Elementals and other creatures closely aligned with the element of water. Higher-level versions of the third tier could also affect Slimes to some extent.  
Dragon Lightning: A 5th tier spell that shoots white lightning in the shape of a writhing dragon from the tip of the caster’s finger. As with Lightning, its effective against targets wearing metal armor.  
Drown: It was a spell that infused the lungs with water. It was a magic that progressed in a countdown. It was useless towards those that had the ability to breathe underwater. There was a long-delayed before it was able to cause the death of the target. In Yggdrasil, it was not terrifying magic, as there were ways to counter it.  
Earth Bind: By using this spell, numerous chains are created from mud and then flew at the target to bind it.  
Earth Surge  
Earthquake  
Fire Arrow  
Fire Rain  
Fire Storm: A divine area-effect attack spell.  
Fireball: A 3rd tier spell that allows the user to shoots out a big ball of fire that burns its target.  
Flame Resistance: A 3rd tier spell used by Olasird'arc Haylilyal to cover the Frost Dragon's racial weakness to fire. In other words, it grants resistance to the fire element.  
Fog Cloud: A bank of fog that covers up the surrounding.  
Force Explosion: Sends an invisible shockwave towards the target.  
Force Sanctuary: Create a white light barrier from holy energy. Although it prevents the user from attacking, it is an absolute barrier that completely blocks the opponent’s attack.  
Freedom  
Freeze Lance: A 4th tier physical spell that deals ice damage.  
Gate: Summons a portal, allowing travel of a large number of people over great distances. It is considered to be the highest tier of teleportation magic. However, Belle needs to be supported by either Pestonya Shortcake Wanko or Entoma Vasilissa Zeta if she continually uses it.  
Grand Fireball: Since it is of the 4th tier, this spell is presumed to be the superior version of Fireball.  
Greater Lethal: A divine spell with very powerful healing, which involved channeling vast quantities of negative energy. It is the most powerful healing spell that Belle could cast on herself to greatly heal her HP.  
Greater Teleportation: A 7th tier spell that allows instantaneous transition without restriction to distance.  
Heal: A 6th tier spell that could restore a great deal of health in addition to healing various diseases and other abnormal status conditions.  
Heavy Recover  
Holy Ray: A 4th tier spell that can create a ray of light used to pierce the intended target.  
Hot Spring: A 3rd tier lifestyle tradition spell which creates a hot spring. Apparently, it was an imitation of the druid spell [Geyser].  
Iceball: An area-effect spell like Fireball.  
Ice Pillar: By activating this spell, the user could sprout two pillars of ice.  
Invisibility: Makes the caster invisible.  
Lesser Dexterity: Raises the target’s dexterity.  
Lesser Mind Protection  
Lesser Strength: Raises the target’s strength.  
Life Essence: Allows the caster to view the health values of an enemy.  
Light Healing: A 1st tier divine spell that heals allies of their wounds with a soothing warm green light.  
Lightning: A 3rd tier spell that shoots a bolt of lightning from the tip of the caster's finger. It is effective against targets wearing metal armor.  
Lightning Bolt: This spell creates bluish-white lightning created that can pierce its intended target.  
Lightning Claw: A spell that casts a stroke of electricity in the shape of a beast talons through the air and does electric damage to an intended target.  
Lion’s Heart: A 3rd tier spell that provides only a single target with complete resistance to fear.  
Magic Arrow: A 1st tier spell that allows the user to shoot out an arrow made of mana that will pierce a target. Belle can also use this spell with Triple Maximize Magic.  
Magic Destruction: Destroys an object made by magic. The success rate of this spell was directly dependent on the spell-casting ability of its caster.  
Mana Essence: Allows the user to learn enemy's remaining MP.  
Mass Hold Species: Constricts a large number of creatures, rendering them unable to move.  
Mass Targeting  
Message: In the Web Novel, the spell is classified as part of the 2nd tier. This spell was used to communicate in the game. Normally, its use was restricted to certain places and conditions. The problem was that this spell was originally designed to communicate with other players, and it could not reach a GM. When one used the [Message] spell, as long as the other party was within the game, one would hear a call tone. Otherwise, there would be no sound, and the spell would immediately terminate. In the New World, the effect from this spell's usage felt like something was constantly reaching out, as though looking for something to connect to.  
Paralyze  
Perfect Unknowable: A 9th tier spell used to make the user invisible to the naked eye. It can also erase one's traces and sounds including the pitch of the user's voice from being heard, making the magic caster very difficult to detect if they did not have very high-level thief-type job classes.  
Poison  
Poison Bomb: A single-target spell that deals poisonous damage to one foe.  
Protection Energy – Fire: Provides limited protection from fire attacks.  
Protection Energy – Ice  
Protection Energy – Negative: Protects target from Negative Energy damage.  
Protection from Evil  
Ray of Negative Energy: A beam of dark power that can heal undead.  
Regenerate: Provides slow healing over time.  
Reinforce Armor  
Sand Field: One  
Shadow Bat Swarm: A 6th tier spell that allows Belle to summon dozens of black, shadowy bats from the shadow of her palm.  
Shard Buck Shots: A spell used to create many crystals smaller than the size of a fist shot out in a scattered pattern. These are crystal fragments which sharp front ends. Originally, it would be used in close-quarter combat to inflict enormous harm.  
Shield Wall: Creates an invisible barrier around the target.  
Shock Lance: A 4th tier physical spell that deals lightning damage.  
Silence: Negates sound in an area.  
Silver Lance: A physical spell of the 4th tier, that carried the silver element for great damage to any enemy vulnerable to silver. It also had a piercing special effect that dealt even more damage to targets not wearing any armor. A drawback was that armor could decrease its damage.  
Sodom’s Fire and Brimstone: An AoE Fire-type Magical Attack that deals damage to multiple foes.  
Teleportation: A 5th tier spell that allows the caster to teleport over a distance.  
Temperature Change: A 2nd tier lifestyle tradition spell used to alter the temperature of the water until it was comfortable, or to directly heat the room.  
Thunder Bolt: Fires a bolt of electricity.  
Thunder Bomb: A 6th tier spell that launches a sphere of pure energy.  
Thunder Grenade: Fires a sphere of thunder.  
Thunderball: A 3rd tier area-of-effect spell.  
Thunderlance: A 2nd tier spell.  
Thundersphere: Fires a ball of electricity.  
Time Accelerator: Increase the speed, but the user cannot attack under the effects of the spell.  
Turn Undead: Repels or exorcises undead targets depending on the difference of strength between the caster and the target.  
Twine Plant: Summons vines from the ground to entangle targeted opponents, immobilizing them.  
Vermilion Nova: A 9th tier spell. It is an attack the target with a pillar of flame. Deals Fire-based type of damage.  
Wall of Stone: Surrounds the user with stonewalls, protecting them from damage.  
Water Splash: A ball of water that is shot out at the intended target.  
Woodland Stride

Active Skills:  
Impure Shockwave Shield: A reddish-black wave of force that spreads forth from the user's body. It may be used defensively against attacks, or offensively in close range. It is a skill, which combined offense and defense. It may be used two times a day.  
Time Reverse: It is a skill that negates the damage caused by a single attack. The damage she sustained is instantly converted back into health. The blood spill out after taking damage will then flowed back into her body, as though time itself had reversed to render the attack completely ineffective. However, turning back time to recover damage could only be done three times a day.

Passive Skills:  
Arcane Vision/See Invisibility: See Through.  
Dark Vision  
High Tier Physical Immunity III: Nullifies all low-level attacks (below level 60).  
Ultra-Fast Regeneration: Unless a wound is caused by a blessed or cursed weapon, Belle’s physical injuries will heal quickly.

Special Abilities:  
Fast Healing  
Spell Resistance: Her resistance depends on the attacker’s own strength.  
Weapon Damage Resistance

Basic Doppelgänger Race Traits:  
Biological Penalties' Resistance  
Bludgeoning Vulnerability II  
Critical Hit Resistance III  
Cut Vulnerability III  
Dark Vision  
Disease Resistance III  
Energy Drain Vulnerability IV  
Fire Vulnerability II  
Frost Vulnerability II  
Malleable Psychology (when copies other people: changes resistances/immunities/weakness according to copied traits/racial characteristic)  
Mind-affecting Resistance IV  
Paralysis Resistance IV  
Physical Penalty Resistance  
Poisoning Immunity

Powers:  
Disease Projection: Belle has an ailment aura. She has the power to transmit a spectrum of terminal diseases (such as the Black Death) depending on what variety of metal she touches. She can infect her victims with lethal diseases. She can target multiple people at once.  
Shapeshifting  
Virus Touch: Pestilence can produce a bio-hazardous agent from her body that acts as a crippling virus in the bodies of other people. It can also spread to plants, causing them to wither and die The virus is incredibly potent -- even glancing contact with her skin or a few molecules of the virus clinging to a person’s intangible form were enough to cause infection. The virus causes physical weakness, fainting, nausea, fever, and delirium. It can be treated, but will otherwise be lethal to anyone infected.

Weaknesses:  
Powers are proximity based and the farther away the target is, the less the effect.

Main Equipment:  
Bow  
Flying Steed: Pestilence utilizes a mystical flying white steed as one of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse.  
Járngreipr: This world item takes the appearance of a pair of iron gloves that make the user capable of using any kind of weapon or item, ignoring the restrictions.  
Metallic Whip  
Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown

Heretic: He is an Automaton. He speaks with a stuffy British accent. Because Nazarick has use of talented individuals, Tempest had Lucifer Shadows resurrect the five members of Six Arms that Sebas Tian killed then he placed all of Six Arms under Heretic’s control. Zero, Davernoch, Edström, Succulent, Peshurian, and Malmvist are terrified of Heretic and obey him without question; Heretic puts them through a strict and harsh training regimen to make them more efficient assassins. Heretic is the doctor, master assassin, torture master, infiltrator, and espionage specialist of Nazarick. Heretic is stationed on the 6th floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick in his medical office where he tends to his patients and gathers herbs from the greenery for his medicine. Heretic is Tempest’s “Horsemen of Famine.” Heretic serves as Jaldabaoth’s torture master who is called “The Inquisitor.”  
Appearance:  
Heretic is a short 12-year-old looking Caucasian boy with black hair styled after Ciel Phantomhive from the anime “Black Butler.” He wears a typical butler uniform with black dress shoes, white socks, white gloves, black dress pants, white dress shirt, two golden buttoned black butler vest, navy blue string tie, black trench coat, black flat cap, and black scarf. He wears a black eyepatch over his left eye while his right eye has a dark green color and bullseye-mark on the pupil. He has an aquamarine-colored tear-drop shaped tattoo under his right eye. He is 122cm tall.  
While under the guise of Jaldabaoth’s torture master, “Inquisitor,” Heretic wears black combat boots, gray pantaloons, white ruffle shirt, black raincoat with a hood, and a metal mask modeled after a human skull.  
As the adventurer “Kato,” Heretic wears a green scarf, a green cloak with a hood, brown leather gloves, gray hard leather armor, brown boots, a brown Robin Hood hat, a brown belt with a sheathed dagger on it, and he has a brown composite longbow and black quiver on his back.  
Heretic likes to wear his pair of Hidden Blades in both his Nazarick and adventurer identities. He wears one on his right arm and one on his left arm.  
When posing as the Horseman Famine, Heretic wears a black puritan preacher’s outfit with a long black wig, a leathery, corpse-like mask, and a hangman's noose around his neck.

Personality:  
Heretic’s overall personality would be considered as cold and calculating, with logic as his fundamental basis. He speaks with a stuffy British accent. It is very difficult to gauge his emotions from looking into his unmoving face. Though he can be susceptible to moments of emotion, such as anger toward Shalltear for failing her missions, logic still dictates his actions overall. His loyalty toward his creator Tempest is without question, although that doesn’t stop him from questioning the logic of his leader's desires. Heretic naturally only serves his two true masters: Tempest and logic. He's willing to ignore petty squabbles and jabs at him and will only do what he finds logical. Tempest is pleased by his dedication and his competence stemming from it, starkly contrasting with the egotistical and gloating Shalltear or the immature Lucifer Shadows. Heretic cares greatly for his siblings but becomes annoyed with Toro’s bloodlust and Lucifer’s lack of focus, but he respects Belle for her focus on the bigger picture and tactical expertise. His passive nature to what goes on around him may paint him as apathetic, but whoever believes that is writing their death warrant. Heretic is as brutal and fierce as any denizen of Nazarick and has the strength and durability to withstand everything from explosions to physical assaults. He does not take well to attempts on his life or his experiments failing or being tampered with. God help those who actually do break his seemingly eternal calm. Heretic is an assassin that possesses the logic of killing an opponent quickly and efficiently no matter the method. Another aspect of his personality is his complete and utter lack of any sort of ethics, morals, or scruples. Heretic will only spare others if he believes they’re valuable.  
Abilities and Powers:  
Heretic is a rogue medic, which is more for defense and support, he specializes in healing magic, poison to heal or kill, martial art moves, throwing knives or other sharp objects, stealth, disarming traps, picking locks, spying on foes, performing backstabs from behind, and supporting his colleagues by using various items. Heretic is specialized in long-ranged combat, shooting foes from afar. He has a very strong physical attack power while the value of his other characteristics, especially magical attack, is quite low. As an assassin, Heretic is skilled in espionage, infiltration, tracking, and assassinations. He is also well versed in a number of poisons and other substances of the like. Being a rogue class-based character with assassin and poison maker classes, Heretic has superior detection abilities. He is specialized in detecting traps, pursuit, scouting, and the use of poison in combat. He can bypass the job restrictions of scrolls through an unidentified set of thief skills. He can use a skill from his assassin class to melt into the shadows and then reemerge out of it.  
Lore:  
Heretic was created by a mad scientist who specialized in chemistry, poisons, and toxicology. She worked for the military of a fascist empire. His “mother” was in charge of designing biological weapons for the army, so she tested her poisons out on captured civilians and enemy soldiers. She built Heretic to serve as her assistant and she programmed with her scientific knowledge. Heretic’s job was to feed the starving prisoners in order to keep them alive for experimentation.  
Trivia:  
-Heretic is the second youngest of Tempest’s NPCs.  
-Heretic has extensive knowledge of firearms and keeps an arsenal of guns.  
-Heretic has a large knife collection.  
-Heretic poses as Jaldabaoth’s torture master called “Inquisitor.”  
-Heretic helps Neuronist and her Torturers extract information from prisoners kept in the Frozen Prison on the 5th floor.  
-Heretic has earned the title of “The Doctor of Dread” because of his willingness to use medicine to kill and torture others.  
-Heretic’s adventurer name “Kato” is the last name of Japanese engineer Ichiro Kato who built the world’s first real android.  
-Heretic has created potions that can change a person’s race. His sister Lucifer helped him create potions that can turn people into angels, such as her, by donating her blood to Heretic as an ingredient. The potion contains a blue/white liquid.  
-While in his Kato adventurer persona, Heretic has registered for the Thieves’ Guild and the Pharmacist’s Guild.  
-Tia of Blue Rose, the ninja with the blue ribbons, has a crush on Heretic because she is a shotacon who likes young boys (according to the Web Novel). Although, she also has an interest in Tempest/Cloud, but he’s weirded out by her.  
-His name “Heretic” means “a person holding an opinion at odds with what is generally accepted,” which describes him perfectly because he is willing to question his creator’s orders if he views them as “illogical.”  
-Heretic is Tempest’s “Horsemen of Famine” because of his hunger-less nature and his role as the Evil Genius.  
-Heretic is the new leader of the security department of Eight Fingers called Six Arms. Six Arms is the strongest enforcement group within the Eight Fingers. They are a powerful group consisting of individuals that can rival characters such as Brain Unglaus, with their weakest member equal to an Orichalcum class adventurer. And one of them is even a powerful undead being known as an Elder Lich. When they are sent out, it means that the organization is very serious or is in a precarious state. The name Six Arms originates from the sibling of the God of Theft, who was said to possess six arms.  
-Heretic never laughs or tells jokes.  
-Heretic tends to use the word "Logical" in most of his sentences. He finds most situations to be "Illogical."  
-He sometimes calls organics derogative terms such as: “vermin,” “squishies,” “fleshlings,” “meat bags,” and “parasites.”  
-His servant name as Jaldabaoth’s torture master is “The Inquisitor,” which is an official (usually with judicial or investigative functions) in an Inquisition; an organization or program intended to eliminate heresy and other things contrary to the doctrine or teachings of the Catholic faith. Literally, an inquisitor is one who "searches out" or "inquires" (Latin inquirere < quaerere, "to seek").  
-Nfirea told Heretic that there are three types of potion: potions made by herbs, potions made by a combination of herb and magic, and potions made by nothing but magic.  
-After the large-scale update called "Valkyrie's Downfall," his race, gunner class, and weapon were added into the game.  
-Thieves are usually nimble melee or ranged combatants and tend to be focused on dodging attacks rather than withstanding damage. They often attack by dual-wielding daggers or with other small one-handed and/or concealable weapons, relying on speed and rapid strikes rather than sheer damage output. Thieves usually work in small groups or guilds. Thieves usually have a stealth ability, allowing them to disappear from sight, often this is combined with attacking an unaware or flanked opponent to inflict high damage. Thieves are usually restricted to the lighter armors, leather and the like. While thieves typically cannot practice magic, they might use scrolls or magic items in some games; if neither option is available, then technical gadgets are used. In most fantasy settings, smaller and more agile fantasy races (like elves, gnomes, and hobbits) are particularly suited for the thief class.  
-Heretic’s design was inspired by CZ2128 Delta, Solution Epsilon, Tia, Tina, Shockwave from the “Transformers” franchise, Ciel Phantomhive from the anime “Black Butler,” Corvo Attano from the video game “Dishonored,” The Scarecrow/Jonathan Crane from DC Comics, Hawk from the fanfic “Trapped in a Game-Fantasy World” by fanfic author Gen3sian, Zero Rei from the fanfic “Overlordly broken” by fanfic author oblivon2991, and Kadarin from the fanfic “Revelations” by fanfic author Arkio.  
Age: 25  
Gender: Male  
Height: 122cm  
Affiliation: Great Tomb of Nazarick, Tempest  
Family: Lucifer Shadows (Older Sister), Belle von Bane (Older Sister), and Toro (Younger Brother)  
Title: The Doctor of Dread  
Job/Occupation: Trapmaster, Doctor, Master Assassin, Torture Master, Infiltrator, and Espionage Specialist  
Role: Medic/Rogue/Support/Ranger/Thief/Automaton Gunner  
Residence: His personal medical office in the 6th Floor: Jungle of the Great Tomb of Nazarick  
Karma: Negative 50: Neutral  
Creator: Tempest  
Hobby: Chemistry, Inventing, Making New Poisons, Setting Traps for Intruders, Thinking of New Torture Methods, and Experimenting on Test Subjects  
Voice Actress: Brina Palencia (who voiced Ciel Phantomhive in the English dub of the anime television series “Black Butler”)

Class Build:  
Total Level : 100

Race: Automaton  
Race Type: Heteromorphic

Racial Level  
Automaton (10)  
Racial Level Total (10)

Job Level  
Ranger (5)  
Thief/Rogue (10)  
Gunner (10)  
Assassin (10)  
Poison Maker (5)  
Master Assassin (5)  
Ninja (10)  
Shooter (5)  
Stalker (5)  
Sniper (5)  
Alchemist (5)  
Pharmacist (5)  
Doctor (10)  
Job/Class Level Total (90)

Stats:  
HP : 75  
MP : 30  
Phy. Atk. : 90  
Phy. Def. : 73  
Agility : 95  
Mag. Atk. : 35  
Mag. Def. : 78  
Resistance : 91  
Special Ability : 70  
Total : 637

Active Skills:  
Bursting Flame Column: A ninjutsu skill used by Heretic to seemingly create a self-imploding explosion with flames.  
Cloak Mode: Light-bending adaptive camouflage allows Heretic to turn invisible, or at least translucence, rendering him incredibly difficult to spot. The invisibility effect has been known to be shorted out through contact with water, and it is susceptible to the effects of an electromagnetic pulse, at least temporarily. The effects of the ability have also been known to fail as a result of direct assaults on Heretic’s body, be it with ranged weaponry or physical attacks.  
Combat Protocol Adaptation: By analyzing the enemy's skills, movement and abilities, the user can increase their combat effectiveness, adapting to the damage and they can increase resistance.  
Dark Crossing: A ninjutsu skill used by Heretic to teleport from one shadow to another one nearby.  
Hawk Eye  
Hide Shadow: A ninjutsu skill used by Heretic to hide in a shadow to avoid detection.  
Immobility Binding Paralysis: A ninjutsu skill used by Heretic to temporarily immobilize a single target.  
Immovable Adamantine Shield: A ninjutsu skill used by Heretic to create a large shield radiating with multiple colors to appear in front of her.  
Language Translator: The Language Translator is a program installed in Heretic that allows him to understand other species' communication(s)/language(s).  
Overdrive: Increases all stats drastically for a short time. In exchange, once the effect ends the user is weakened for a period of time.  
Overload: Releases a destructive wave that damages surrounding enemies. Possibly damages the user.  
Self-destruct: The user self-destructs in the hope of eliminating the enemy. There is a possibility of surviving the process with a minimal amount of health.  
Shadow Clone: A ninjutsu skill used by Heretic to create a clone of himself. The clone has one-quarter of the original body’s battle power. However, only the shadow’s evading ability was determined by the amount of magic power granted to it by the main body.  
Sky Eye: A long-range skill that permits its user to watch a scene from afar within two kilometers.  
Sound Imitation: Heretic is able to mimic the voices of others or imitate sounds such as animal noises and explosions. Any Heretic hears he can replicate with perfect clarity along with any manner the sound was made. There are limits to this ability. Sounds that are too high or too low in sound frequency might be impossible to replicate. Sounds that are too high or too low in sound frequency may cause considerable strain on Heretic's body.  
Vision Modes: Heretic contains systems to enhance his thermal vision and provide additional vision modes in other electromagnetic spectra, ranging from night vision to ultraviolet and even vibration scanning as well as featuring adjustable binocular vision.

Passive Skills:  
Arcane Vision/See Invisibility: See Through.  
Drain Touch: Can drain others of their energy by touch.  
Energy Converter: Can convert different types of energies to heal himself or recharge his resource pool. Be it negative, holy, infernal, etc... the drawback is: Before each drain the user needs to recalibrate this ability to acclimatize to the type of energy or their circuits overcharge.  
First Class Materials: Made from first-class materials, the user is more durable and more resistant to different damage types.  
Mechanical Body: Grants complete immunity of diseases, exhaustion, and poisons. Sleep, drink, and food are not required.  
Memory Safe-locks: Immune to most mind-altering effects.

Special Abilities:  
Advanced Targeting Systems: Heretic’s accuracy is improved.  
Clockwork Knight: Heretic can cause extra damage with physical weapons.  
Cybernetic Brain: Heretic can hack into electronics.  
Enhanced Optics: Heretic can see things that are far away with the same degree of clarity that they would if the objects were very close.  
Machine Master: Heretic can quickly understand any technology he operates.  
Metallic Skin: Heretic possesses enhanced durability.  
Weapon Damage Resistance

Basic Automaton Race Traits:  
Biological Penalties’ Resistance  
Bludgeoning Vulnerability II  
Critical Hit Immunity  
Dark Vision  
Death Immunity (being a non-living life form)  
Disease Immunity  
Doubled Damage by Electricity  
Eating, Drinking, and Breathing are Unnecessary  
Electrical and Drain Field Vulnerability II  
Electricity, Corrosion and Drain Vulnerability IV  
Energy Drain Vulnerability III  
Mind-affecting Immunity  
Necromancy Resistance  
Paralysis Immunity  
Physical Penalty Resistance  
Poisoning Immunity  
Sleep Immunity

Powers:  
Enhanced Durability: Heretic’s mechanical body is virtually indestructible. He once withstood a fall from several stories and landed on a car with no injury.  
Organic Disintegration: Heretic can disintegrate organic matter.  
Emaciation: Heretic can induce extreme hunger pains in humans and animals. He can also cause an emaciated state through physical contact.

Abilities:  
Chemistry  
Toxicology  
Expert Acrobat: Heretic is a skilled acrobat capable of performing many difficult feats and matching the feats of the finest human acrobats.  
Genius Level Intellect  
Master Assassin: Heretic knows every pressure point and vulnerable spot on the human body and is able to turn virtually any object into a deadly weapon capable of incapacitating or killing an enemy.  
Master Marksman: Heretic's innate ability to throw any projectile with great unerring accuracy and deadliness is superhuman. His uncanny ability to use virtually any common object as a lethal projectile actually makes him more dangerous than many characters who do have superhuman powers. Heretic can accomplish many feats with thrown projectiles that is at a degree of superhuman. He has demonstrated the ability to lacerate a person's throat with a thrown playing card, toss a tooth through a human skull, toss a paper airplane to a distant rooftop, and kill a person with a toothpick thrown through a window from a hundred yards away. He is also a dangerous sharpshooter, and his accuracy when wielding an object, the size and mass of a baseball is about 100 feet and even can hurl such objects at around 105 miles per hour.  
Master Martial Artist: Aside from his ability to throw projectiles with lethal accuracy, Heretic is also proficient in many martial arts disciplines and is extremely talented in the use of edged weapons and conventional firearms.  
Weapons Proficiency: As a result of his naturally perfect athletic gift for hand-eye coordination, Heretic can quickly learn how to wield most weapons even if he's never seen them before. Aside from throwing projectiles, he has used the following items: knives, whips, shurikens, darts, sais, a saber, nunchukas, the specialized weapons of others such as a bat-shaped edged weapon and a billy club. He has also used projectile weapons such as assorted handguns (thrown or fired), a rocket launcher, a shotgun, sniper rifle, and a cartridge-gun that held various types of ammunition such as a pronged harpoon and a sonic-beam-generating cartridge. Occasionally, he has used cable guns for swinging to safety. He has also carried explosive devices such as grenades and plastic-explosive charges in the compartments of his gloves. Common items he has turned into weapons include an apple, ashtray, bolts, books, bricks, CDs, change, a coffeepot, cross, flashlight, food trays, forks, garbage, glass shards, golf balls, hairbrushes, a hubcap, lamp, lid, menu, microphone/boom, paper airplanes, paper clips, pencils, pens, a pill, pipes, playing cards, a plastic baby, potted plant, purse strap, rope, rosary beads, rosin-filled bag, scalpel, shovel, straw, syringe, toothpick, ten pins, vases, and human teeth.  
Pedagogy  
Psychology

Main Equipment:  
Adventurer Outfit: While masquerading as the adventurer “Kato”, Heretic wears a green scarf, a green cloak with a hood, brown leather gloves, gray hard leather armor, brown boots, a brown Robin Hood hat, a brown belt with a sheathed dagger on it, and he has a brown composite longbow and black quiver on his back.  
Ancient Scale  
Black Scythe  
Elemental Magic Gun: Heretic has a variety of firearms that can each inflict a unique type of Elemental damage on a target.  
Flight Necklace: A magical amulet that gives the user the ability to fly. It is a necklace in the shape of a bird’s wing. When wearing the necklace, if a user focused his/her awareness onto the item, it activates the power hidden inside which is the [Fly] spell. Once activated, the user will be able to fly high in the sky, reaching the clouds.  
Flying Steed: Famine utilizes a mystical flying black steed as one of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse.  
Heretic's Eyepatch: A legendary-class item that allows Heretic to use several specialized stealth and ambush-type spells.  
Huliðshjálmr: A helmet-shaped world item that can hide the wearer from any kind of divination, or spying attempt (both virtually and physically). Only those with specialized world items can detect the user.  
Knives: Heretic keeps a large selection of sharp knives to use in either combat or assassinations.  
Magic Gun: Heretic possesses an arsenal of powerful science-fiction type guns at his disposal as a part of his Gunner class. Heretic’s magic guns have a mostly silvery-white appearance with a touch of grey on the front. They also have the general appearance of a modern tactical assault/sniper rifle hybrid, complete with a stereoscope to shoot long-distance targets. A magic gun is a ranged weapon that can shoot out arrow-like bullets by consuming mana. Despite resembling a gun, it operates a bit similar to that of a crossbow. In addition, Heretic’s weapon may switch between two modes: quick, precise individual shots or rapid fire. Magic Gun also possesses an ability— 'Full Burst'. It activates after a period of reloading and unleashes a barrage of rapid-fire bullets at a target. Incidentally, that magic gun had been added to the game after the large-scale update called "Valkyrie's Downfall". It appears that unlike the firearms of the real world, the sound of the gunshots is not as loud, given that Neia thought most of the shots sounded merely like "pew", "pew".  
Mantrap: A a massive bear trap on a long chain.  
Message Scroll  
Pesticide: While under the guise of the Horseman Famine, Heretic uses pesticides to destroy crops to cause mass starvation.  
Poison Dart  
Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown  
Statue of Animal - War Horse: Heretic uses this summoning item to summon a majestic giant golem warhorse donned with heavy metal armor as a mount for his use while traveling with Ainz, Tempest, Narberal, and Toro as an adventurer. Apparently, it is not a one-time use item, but the summon could be recalled and used again.  
Strings: Heretic uses white koto strings (sometimes harp strings) in battle; they’re used to affect a person’s facial feature and are very very sharp and can even tear up solid earth, bones, skin, muscles and sometimes steel based on the vibrations of the finger; the strings also have other uses such as listening in on distant conversations. These strings can also be used to restrain people’s movements.  
Terror Toxin: Through intense research in the science of fear, Heretic developed a powerful hallucinogenic drug he dubbed "terror toxin". When inhaled, the victim hallucinates their own worst fears becoming a reality. Though the length of the effects can vary, Heretic has developed an antidote to neutralize the toxin almost instantly. Similarly, overcoming the fear in question has also been shown to nullify the symptoms.  
Two Hidden Blades: Two concealable weapons that are composed of a narrow blade set into a channel on the underside of a bracer or gauntlet. Controlled by a spring-loaded mechanism, the blade can spontaneously extend and retract from its position.  
Unnamed Ring: Alongside Ainz, Narberal, and Tempest, Heretic wears a silver ring with a blue stone in it on his right ring finger that seems capable of hiding an unknown amount of magical power from being identified by the individual in question.  
Vampire Blade: A dagger that can suck the blood of the victim leaving no evidence of a murder.

Toro: He is a Minotaur. Toro serves as a combat instructor for Hamsuke, Swords of Darkness, Climb, Brain Unglaus, Clementine, Six Arms, Neia Baraja, Foresight, Go Gin, Blue Rose, and the Lizardmen. Toro became the leader of the Great Minotaur Nation after beating their leader in a one-on-one fistfight, the nation then became a vassal state of Nazarick. Toro is the butler, bodyguard, escort, occasional blacksmith, and craftsman, when his master needs it, of Nazarick. Toro sometimes helps the Chief Blacksmith of Nazarick with his blacksmith work. Toro is stationed on the 9th floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick so he can tend to his creator Tempest in his room in the Royal Suite. Toro serves as Tempest’s bodyguard/traveling companion when he’s outside of Nazarick because his agility and magical defense are much higher than Tempest’s. Toro is Tempest’s “Horsemen of War.” Toro serves as Jaldabaoth’s butler who is called “Asterion.”  
Appearance:  
Toro has the appearance of a very muscular anthropomorphic bull with bright crimson red skin that walks on his hind legs and wears enchanted thick spiked black armor. He has a mass of white hair on his head to match his white goat beard along with his white eyebrows. He wears a steel nose ring, a steel collar, and a pair of enchanted steel spike bracelets on each arm. His upper body is more simian than human. His upper body is covered in black fur, except his arms and face, which are bright crimson red. Toro’s lower body is covered in black fur, with white cloven hooves, and a white bull tail. Toro has jet black eyes with yellow pupils, a bull-like shaped face, and a pair of long sharp curved black bull horns. In his Minotaur form, Toro is 2.6m tall (excluding tail); Toro is noted to be larger than an average Minotaur.  
Toro can use glamour magic to disguise himself as a muscular middle-aged African American adult human male with amber eyes, nicely combed white hair, and a fine white beard who wears a black business suit along with a white dress shirt underneath his suit, white cotton gloves, black bow tie, and black dress shoes. In human form, Toro stands at 204cm.  
While under the guise of Jaldabaoth’s butler “Asterion,” Toro wears a white butler suit with a white dress shirt underneath the suit, white tie, white cotton gloves, white dress shoes, and a metal mask in the visage of a bull that covers his face.  
As the adventurer “Minos,” Toro wears a Shaolin monk outfit that consists of an orange robe, black belt, white socks, and black Chinese Tai Chi shoes.  
When posing as the Horseman War, Toro is in his true “Minotaur” form, but he is dressed as a Roman Retiarius gladiator with a loincloth (subligaculum), which was held in place by a wide belt (balteus); a manica or armguard on his left arm, so the right would be less encumbered.  
Personality:  
Toro is fiercely loyal to his creator, works well with his allies, is quick to anger, takes great pride in his strength, enjoys the thrill of combat, always seeks strong opponents to battle, lacks the more xenophobic attitudes of his peers, and praises the courage and skill of his opponents even if they are vastly weaker than him. Toro doesn’t mind humans as long as they don’t irritate him or work to harm Nazarick. But Toro’s does have a sadistic side, when particularly upset he’ll act like a brute that enjoys causing as much physical damage and pain as he can. Compared to his siblings, he's more violent and prone to physical torture, not to mention his lack of temperament. Despite his bloodlust, Toro is an honorable fighter who prefers not to harm those who can’t fight back and doesn’t kill those who put down their weapons. But he will show no mercy to anyone who threatens or disrespects Nazarick. Toro, like his sister Lucifer and brother Heretic, is subordinate to Belle and follows her lead. Toro tends to act like an old uncle who only sighs on how his two sisters, Lucifer and Belle, act. While Toro finds Lucifer’s immaturity annoying, he cares for her greatly and doesn’t mind when she rides on top of his shoulder. Toro prefers to seek Heretic’s aid in explaining Belle’s and Demiurge’s plans. His mind is more focused on fighting and killing things. Toro can be surprisingly tactful and resourceful, such as using his opponents’ generosity or arrogance to his advantage by tricking them into revealing important information to him, demonstrating that he possesses incredible cunning as well as prodigious physical strength.  
Abilities and Powers:  
Toro is a level 100 warrior with monk-type abilities. As a melee fighter, Toro is someone who excels in unarmed hand-to-hand, close combat. Toro is considered as one of the five strongest warriors (Cocytus, Albedo, Sebas, and Rubedo) within the Great Tomb of Nazarick. If he was to reveal his true form (Minotaur) in combat, Toro can even overwhelm Albedo and Cocytus. Though he does not have any magical abilities, he can heal a target using Ki. According to Ainz Ooal Gown, Toro is capable of sweeping away anyone before him in direct combat. As Toro has high-level physical abilities, he is able to demonstrate incredible superhuman power in comparison to the New World humans. Toro’s skills are looked upon as beyond a first-class warrior. Toro could gauge his opponent’s strength by the potency of their ki. However, much like his other abilities, it would be difficult to tell if his opponents were concealing their power with skills or magic.  
Toro is also highly devious, and a superb strategist and tactician, who has committed various famous war manuals (such as Sun Tzu's "The Art Of War" and Karl von Clausewitz's "On War") to memory. Toro once beat Albedo in a chess game.  
Toro has a photographic memory, which borders on absolute total recall. This has allowed him to memorize the countless skills, disciplines, and facts that he taught himself over the years.  
Lore:  
Toro was the proud, eldest son of a fierce Minotaur warlord and a powerful pit fighter from a barbarian tribe. Since he was born in a tribe that occupied land that was constantly contested by other demi-humans, he’s accumulated a great deal of knowledge and experience, and he is optimized for the task of combat. Toro left his family and country behind in search of greater power. He worked as a mercenary for several decades and offered his services to warlords. While wondering a desert, he found and joined a monastery that taught him how to use Ki and educated him in various arts of crafting, specifically: blacksmithing, weapon smithing, armor smithing, item smithing, and runesmithing. He also completely memorized all the facts in countless encyclopedias and books during his time in the monastery.  
Trivia:  
-Toro is the youngest of his siblings because he is the fourth and final NPC that Tempest created.  
-Toro has earned the title of “The Unbreakable Brawling Beast” because of his great defense power and combat expertise.  
-His name “Toro” is the Spanish word for “bull.”  
-His servant name as Jaldabaoth’s butler is “Asterion,” which is the same name as the Minotaur that Theseus slew in Greek Mythology.  
-Toro’s adventurer name “Minos” is the name of the first King of Crete in Greek Mythology, who was the son of Zeus and Europa. Every nine years, he made King Aegeus pick seven young boys and seven young girls to be sent to Daedalus's creation, the labyrinth, to be eaten by the Minotaur.  
-Toro is Tempest’s “Horsemen of War” because of his lust for combat and his role as The Brute.  
-Toro is the new leader of the Great Minotaur Nation that is now a vassal state of Nazarick.  
-According to Brain Unglaus, Monks like Sebas and Toro are usually neither armed with weapons or equipped with armors.  
-Monk is a class which used the power of ki to turn their own body into a living weapon suited for battle. First-rate Monks like Toro are warriors capable of making their fists as hard as steel. They had the advantage against magic casters or thieves, but the reverse was true against paladins. However, since monks were a class focused on fighting individuals in close-combat, they had very few area-effect attacks. They possess powers that enhanced their overall body for offensive and defensive uses. Some Monks like Unkei can be magic casters too.  
-If one has levels in other classes like Ki Master and Monk, it can possibly help in strengthening a Single Blow's fists with Ki Energy.  
-Because he is a Minotaur Lord, a special type of Minotaur among Beastmen royalty, Toro can only grow stronger with age and can't die of old age, like a dragon. In the light novels it was mentioned that the royal version of each Beastmen race are crucially different, a lot stronger than simple specimens.  
-War Minotaurs are a rare variant of the Minotaur race that specializes in battle. War Minotaurs have bodies that are larger and far more muscular than those of Minotaurs. War Minotaurs are Minotaurs that have awakened as warriors. War Minotaurs have fighting abilities that are far superior to those of Minotaurs. They are capable of not just using brute force but handling weapons like swords and wearing heavy armor too. Among the diverse variety of Minotaurs, Toro could be classified as 'War Minotaur', a very special mutant adapted to the battle itself.  
-Also, those like Toro who are immune to fear might be able to resist all fear effects inflicted from the outside, but internal fear still has some effect, in order to avoid a situation where complete immunity to fear leads to unfavorable circumstances.  
-In Dungeons & Dragons there is a strength stat... Overlord is based on DND. The author might be simply using the things he uses because he had no mood to separate them as such, and instead created different basic categories based on strength, WIS, Int, etc. (strength and the like could exist in game, but maybe Maruyama did not display them on the character charts).  
-Toro technically doesn’t possess a Craftsman class, however his skill in blacksmithing and crafting is a result from his creator adding it to his backstory. Since there never existed a Runesmith Craftsman class in YGGDRASIL, he is able to apply it in the New World without any setbacks.  
-Toro's design was inspired by Sebas Tian, Go Gin, the Bafolk Lord Buser, Pe Riyuro, Nosferatu Zodd from the anime “Berserk,” Taurus from the anime “Fairy Tail,” Lord Tirek from the show “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic,” Dropkick from the movie “Bumblebee,” Kieran from the fanfic “The Heirs of the Overlord” by fanfic author Brandon Storm, and Torus from the fanfic "Power Rangers Star Knights" by fanfic author AVP5.  
Age: 20  
Gender: Male  
Height: 204cm (as a Human), 2.6m (excluding tail) (as a Minotaur)  
Affiliation: Great Tomb of Nazarick, Tempest  
Family: Lucifer Shadows (Older Sister), Belle von Bane (Older Sister), and Heretic (Older Brother)  
Title: The Unbreakable Brawling Beast  
Job/Occupation: Butler, Bodyguard, Escort, Combat Instructor, Trainer, Blacksmith, and Craftsman of Nazarick  
Role: Tank/Brawler/Fighter  
Residence: Royal Suite on the 9th of the Great Tomb of Nazarick  
Karma: Positive 100: Neutral~Good  
Creator: Tempest  
Hobby: Crafting, Training, and Practicing Proper Etiquette  
Voice Actor: Jean-Benoît "JB" Blanc (who voiced Bane in the video game “Batman: Arkham Origins”)

Class Build:  
Total Level : 100

Race: Minotaur  
Race Type: Demi-Human

Racial Level  
Minotaur (10)  
Minotaur Lord (10)  
War Minotaur (5)  
Racial Level Total (25)

Job Level  
Monk (10)  
Martial Lord (10)  
Striker (5)  
Single Blow (5)  
Ki Master (10)  
Ki Master : Spiritual (15)  
Ki Master : Physical (10)  
Guardian (10)  
Job/Class Level Total (75)

Stats:  
HP : 100  
MP : 10  
Phy. Atk. : 94  
Phy. Def. : 93  
Agility : 88  
Mag. Atk. : 12  
Mag. Def. : 95  
Resistance : 100  
Special Ability : 78  
Total : 670

Active Skills:  
Beast Domination: Using Ki to take control of low-tier and mid-tier summons, like Skeletal Dragons, away from their summoners.  
Demi-Human Killing: A single-target Physical Attack that has increased damage against demi-human beings.  
Healing: Using Ki to heal a target. However, it cannot cure diseases and poison.  
Heel Drop Kick: Toro can raise one of his legs high into the air before shortly then dropping it at the foe's head, smashing their skull, neck and spine to the point that it breaks. The weight of this crushing blow is comparable to an object weighing several hundreds of kilograms.  
Human Killing: A Physical Attack that has increased damage against [Human]–type foes.  
Intimidation: Strikes fear into the hearts of the enemy. Someone like at Climb's level could die from this. However, Climb survived thanks to his love for the Golden Princess, Renner.  
Iron Skin: Hardens the user's skin.  
Kibakushou: The user gathers light between their palms to perform this move. The technique acts as an anti-individual attack when it touches the enemy, but which becomes a spreading shockwave if it does not make contact. Naturally, as an attack intended for direct contact, it becomes very weak when used as a spread effect.  
Magical Seal: A single-target Physical Attack that inflicts the [Seal] effect on foe after it gets hit by this skill.  
Natural Steel Weapon: Using his Ki, Toro is able to harden certain body parts— such as claws and fangs to make them as strong as metal. With the proper training one can use this attack to pierce even adamantite.  
Palm of the Puppeteer: Use Ki to make a target unconscious and obey the user. Activates by touching the target's forehead.  
Paralyzing Palm: Toro delivers a powerful open palm strike to an exposed part of his opponent’s body in order to send a current of energy through their body, which causes the target to go limp and be unable to move a single muscle.  
Percussion Aerodynamics: A single-target Physical Attack move.  
Presence Search: It was a special skill that could tell the user the numbers and difference in strength. If there was too large a level gap, be it an undead or a construct, this ability could not be used on them. But it could detect invisible presences and was used often.  
Rallying Cry: Raises the offensive power of allies and gains complete resistance to fear. Demerit is the user will go berserk and defensive strength will substantially drop.  
Resistance Massive: A skill of monks, granting the ability to reduce magical damage by dispersing the Ki from one's body in an instant.

Passive Skills:  
High Tier Magic Immunity III: Nullifies all low tier spells.  
Iron Hide: It can temporarily nullify the attack of low-tier weapons from harming Toro.  
Ki Sense (Not an official name): Feels signals of life in his surroundings.  
Ki Vision: See anything that’s invisible and see through illusions of people and objects. However, using this passive skill holds a risk of giving off a feeling that the illusion has been broken by his eye to the target.  
Level Evaluation (Not an official name): Specialized in evaluating the capacity of enemies. He can even classify the strength of mere humans.  
Steel Skin: Similar to 'Natural Steel Weapon', this ability is more defensive in which it allows a monk to turn his entire body as tough as steel. Using this ability makes Toro virtually invulnerable to even the slashes of Frost Pain.  
Will of the Beast: A passive skill that provides Toro with resistances against immobilization, blindness, silence and dazzling effects as well as the negative energy that drain life force.

Special Abilities:  
Age Empowerment: The ability to become more powerful and gain an increase in strength, as Toro gets older.  
Bestial Enrage: Enrages Toro, giving him higher attack power and defense in exchange for him losing control.  
Bull Rush  
Call Brethren: Toro calls several beastmen soldiers to his side (racial summon).  
Enraged Regeneration: Toro’s regains health quicker the angrier he gets.  
Immortality: Toro can’t die of old age.  
Instinctual Regeneration: Accelerated regeneration.  
Siege Engine: Can increase Toro’s damage against constructs.

Basic Minotaur Race Traits:  
Beast By Nature III (reduced Int and WIS stats (increases mana pool and spellcasting capabilities))  
Beastmen Agility III (increased agility stat)  
Beastmen Strength IV (increased strength stat)  
Beastmen Stubbornness IV (the lower the user’s health is, the more resistance the user gains)  
Critical Hit Vulnerability III  
Disease Resistance II  
Energy Drain Vulnerability II  
Enhanced Olfactory Senses (Beastmen have a better sense of smell)  
Hardened Physique IV  
Increased Consumption (Beastmen need to consume more food)  
Increased Health Regeneration III  
Increased Positive Effects from Consumables III (Beastmen gain more positive effects from consuming consumables)  
Instinctual User III (increased special stats)  
Mind-affecting Vulnerability II  
Necromancy Vulnerability III  
Physical Penalty Vulnerability II  
Poison Resistance II  
Thick Hide IV (increased fire and cold resistance)

Powers:  
Pathokinesis: War gained the power to manipulate the emotions or feelings of an individual. Through looking at people's eyes, he can control the parts of the brain that house anger through the optic nerve. When this happens, his irises flash red and the victims’ irises follow suit. He can incite anger in people so extreme that the victim turns homicidal and destructive. Individuals with heightened immune systems and healing powers are shown to have a unique reaction to War's power. While initially showing no effect, the person slowly and gradually became more emotionally sensitive. They started with being impatient with others' criticism followed by harsh resentment towards them. By the following day, their eyes finally began showing signs of War's power affecting them, to which they had no patience for others and easily became confrontational. Ultimately, their anger turned into paranoia and caused them to go into homicidal rage to anyone who they thought opposed them.  
Regeneration: Toro was able to piece himself back together after exploding.  
Superhuman strength and durability  
War-filled Psyche: Attempts to read his mind can backfire, resulting in the reader being overcome by War's sorrow and hate.

Main Equipment:  
Adventurer Outfit: While posing as the adventurer “Minos”, Toro wears a Shaolin monk outfit that consists of an orange robe, black belt, white socks, and black Chinese Tai Chi shoes.  
Armor of the Behemoth: Enchanted thick spiked black armor that reduces elemental damage from fire, acid and the like. It is only about as powerful as expendable items.  
Bracelets of Bravery: A pair of enchanted metal spike bracelets that grant Toro’s resistance to instant death spells.  
Dragon Soul: This world item can transform the user into a dragon, massively increasing the user stats and ability efficiency.  
Flaming Dragon Greatsword: A blade with a handle that is in the shape of a large red dragon's head and the blade is an ethereal blade of yellow-orange flame that can be adjusted in length. It gives off a fiery glow when used. The sword as a whole resembles a dragon breathing fire. It is a magic weapon that can inflict burn damage and potentially set enemies on fire. Moreover, it is a magic item that can change its size according to one’s strength.  
Flight Necklace: A magical amulet that gives the user the ability to fly. It is a necklace in the shape of a bird’s wing. When wearing the necklace, if a user focused his/her awareness onto the item, it activates the power hidden inside which is the [Fly] spell. Once activated, the user will be able to fly high in the sky, reaching the clouds.  
Flying Steed: War utilizes a mystical flying red steed as one of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse.  
Frostbane’s War Pick: A two-handed melee weapon that appears as a frozen war hammer with a very long spike on the reverse of the hammerhead. It harbors three magical powers. One, the blade harbors cold energy which deals ice damage for every hit/cut it inflicts. Any enemy coming into contact with the weapon would suffer some frost injuries that slowly erodes the target with frost. Two, the wielder can use a powerful skill that could only be used three times a day— ‘Cold Wave’. A slash that could freeze everything within its range instantly and deal heavy damage. Three, grants the user with resistance to ice damage.  
Gloves of the Minotaur King  
Great Sword  
Message Scroll  
Monk’s Black Belt of Power  
Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown  
Ring of Sustenance: A magic ring that allows the user to go without food, drink and sleep for several days. Toro sometimes uses this item when assuming his adventurer persona to avoid eating anything poisonous. He wears this ring on his right ring finger.  
Shakujō: A Buddhist ringed staff. The shakujō is a metal pole topped with a metal finial with two sections, each with three rings.  
Shoes of Agility  
Statue of Animal - War Horse: Toro uses this summoning item to summon a majestic giant golem warhorse donned with heavy metal armor as a mount for his use while traveling with Ainz, Tempest, Narberal, and Heretic as an adventurer. Apparently, it is not a one-time use item, but the summon could be recalled and used again.  
War Axe: A double-headed axe.  
Worldbreaker: A double-bladed barbarian battle-axe that increases Toro’s Phy. Atk. and Special Ability stats. This enchanted weapon also has the ability to shoot a [Chain Dragon Lightning] spell.


End file.
